Getting Physical With RangeMan
by LoveTheWizard
Summary: Just a "normal" week in the life of Stephanie Plum. Valerie enlists Ranger's help with losing the baby weight, and one of Stephanie's skips promises something he might not be able to keep. Babe through-and-through, but Morelli friendly.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Thank you for opening the story and (hopefully) giving it a chance! I want to give **BIG** thanks to sonomom and jago-ji for being my Yoda's, my drill sergeants, my muses and my friends. Without your help, this would be a serious MESS of a story and it wouldn't have a name. Thank you for the push I needed to post this! _

_All recognizable characters belong to Janet, I'm just glad to have the chance to play with them a bit!_

**Getting Physical With RangeMan**

**Chapter 1**

My name is Stephanie Plum and I almost never shoot people. It's messy and it creeps me out. Especially when the person I'm thinking about tagging is my sister, Valerie. For the last three mornings (and I use the term "morning" loosely as I consider 5 a.m. to be the middle of the night), she has been calling me, begging me to talk to my mentor-slash-guy I've been seeing for the past four months into helping her shed the pounds she gained from her fourth child.

"Val," I said, as I answered the phone.

"Did you talk to him? I swear, Stephanie, I wouldn't be calling you like this if it wasn't a matter of life and death!"

"Life and death?" Was she serious?

"If I don't lose this freaking baby weight I'm going to kill Albert for doing this to me! I used to look like Meg Ryan for cryin' out loud! Now I look like Ryan Reynolds in that movie where he wore the fat suit! I can't be a good mother to my kids if I can't get my head out of the fridge. Can you imagine what people think when they see me?"

"Valerie, it's five in the morning and I haven't talked to Ranger in as many days. He's out of town, but is coming back tomorrow."

"What? He doesn't have a cell phone? You can't text him? How about e-mail? Where is he anyway?"

"He's out of the country, and that's all I know. I don't think he has cell reception." Or access to power lines. Or any clothing other than what he was wearing when he left to save the world. Mmm... Jungle Ranger.

"Hello? Are you listening to me? You just moaned. Are you sure he isn't there?"

Shit, I moaned? I hope I don't do that normally throughout the day. "Okay, Val. I'll ask him when he's back and I'll call you to let you know if he has time available. If all else fails, I'll go running with you. Can I please, please, please, please go back to sleep now?"

"Sheesh, I didn't realize you were spending so much time with Shirley and Eddie," Val interjected.

My good friend, Eddie Gazarra, who Val and I've known since we were in diapers, married our cousin Shirley, The Whiner. I didn't think I sounded like Shirley, but give me a break. "IT'S FIVE IN THE MORNING!" I hung up the phone and turned over, trying hard not to think about a sweaty, hard-muscled, barely dressed Jungle Ranger.

By the time I rolled back over it was 9 a.m. I noticed the phone sitting next to me and remembered my conversation with Valerie four hours earlier. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, but if she wakes me up like that one more time, I'll consider buying bullets for my gun.

I had to hand it to her though, she actually wanted to run and jump, and go on the water and tree bark diet. A couple of years ago, she moved back to the Burg after she learned her then husband had left her for the babysitter. She divorced him and very quickly became involved with Albert Kloughn. Albert is a lawyer and probably one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He also fathered Valerie's two youngest daughters (for a grand total of four daughters). He's probably taking the majority of the blame for putting Val in her current situation. I guess I should at least run the idea by Ranger, if not to help Val, to keep Albert alive. And stop the 5 a.m. phone calls.

I said good morning to Rex, who was busy running on his little hamster wheel, and looked in the fridge. I grabbed some leftover pizza for me and a carrot stick for Rex. Leaning over the sink, I enjoyed my slice of cold Pino's and watched the coffee pot drip next to me. I didn't have much to do today, but I did have a body receipt from my latest FTA apprehension last night. So the first stop on my list was to see Connie and get my check.

As I came out of my building, I figured I'd stop and grab some doughnuts to share with Connie and Lula. I hopped into my tan '98 Toyota Camry and made my way over to one of the best bakeries in all of New Jersey: Tasty Pastry. Not only did they make some amazing cakes and doughnuts, but I happened to be a former employee so if I were to run into the owner on a good day, I'd be able to get my old employee discount. Stephanie Plum, bargain shopper.

I pulled into the lot and swore. Someone I also shared a Tasty Pastry past with was in there and I wasn't sure if he'd be happy to see me. To add insult to injury, the only available parking spot was next to his truck. I pulled into the spot and debated what my next move should be. I already had pizza this morning, so I could just go to the office. But what kind of friend would I be leaving Lula and Connie to fend for themselves? What if they didn't eat breakfast this morning? Breakfast was the most important meal of the day... not to mention I could almost hear the little Boston Cremes in there chanting my name.

Stephanie! Stephanie!

Oh, fuck it. Joe Morelli was not going to stand in the way of me and my doughnuts.

I slammed the door shut and walked toward the sidewalk that surrounded the bakery. As soon as I stepped onto the cement, I walked into a wall, at least he felt like a wall. It was Morelli.

"Hey, Cupcake," he said, with more of a grimace than a smile.

"Hey. Did you by chance see if they still had any Boston Cremes left in there?" Play it cool, Stephanie.

"Looked that way. How are you?" he asked, his eyes hard, just like his 6-foot-tall Italian body.

"Not bad. Just came by to grab some doughnuts for the girls before heading to the office."

A little over seven months ago, Joe and I decided to call it quits. For good this time. He wanted to get married, have children, and turn me into a Burg wife and stay-at-home-mom. That was never going to happen. I couldn't cook, I didn't dust, and the mere thought of marriage and babies gave me the willies. An ultimatum was issued and I just couldn't handle it. There was also the subject of my feelings for Ranger that loomed over our heads, which we never discussed. We decided to do the friend thing. It worked out for the first couple of months, until he got wind of my having a date with Ranger. I'd been receiving the cold shoulder from him until, well, now.

"I heard from Costanza that you brought in Louis Reed last night. Said when you brought him in he had a big bruise on the side of his face. Care to elaborate?" Hmm, he was teasing me. This may not be so bad after all.

"One of the less graceful FTAs I've ever brought in. How was I supposed to know he'd fall right into my swinging handbag?" I said, shrugging.

He gave me a half smile and started walking to his car. "He treating you okay?" he asked, turning to face me as he opened the door. I knew he meant Ranger and nodded back to him.

"Good. You let him know that he has a good thing going and not to ruin it." As he said that his demeanor totally changed from badass cop to the Joe I remembered.

"Thanks, Joe," I smiled and watched him get in his truck. As he pulled away I went to get my doughnuts.

Ten minutes later and three doughnuts down, I pulled up to Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. My cousin Vinnie is the owner and I work for him. Whenever someone gets arrested and wants to avoid sleeping in a jail cell until their court date, they call Vinnie and he bails them out. Most of the time, people show up for their court dates, pay Vinnie a fee for his service, and move on with their lives. If they don't show up, it's my job to find them and convince them to come back into the system. Yesterday I had to convince Louis Reed.

I walked into the office and put the box of doughnuts on Connie's desk. She peeked inside and sighed. "Bless you!" she said as she grabbed a doughnut and took a bite. "I didn't have time to eat this morning. Stupid alarm didn't go off."

"Anytime. Hey, I got Louis Reed for you, by the way," I said as I handed her the body receipt from the police station.

"I heard! Nice touch with the bruise. What'd you hit him with?"

"My handbag... which was holding my gun."

She filed the receipt away and gave me a check for ten percent of the bond. "What did you tell the cops? Carrying concealed without a permit is still against the law."

"No one asked me what was in my bag."

"I can see that. Men seem to be freaked out about what's hiding in a woman's purse. If they put their hands in there, God forbid, they may touch a tampon," she said, rolling her eyes.

Just then, the door jingled signaling someone just walked in. From the way this person was breathing, I sensed it was Lula.

"I know! I'm late, I didn't even get to eat breakfast!" she said panting.

I handed her a doughnut from the box. Was I a great friend or what?

Lula looked at the doughnut and, with an almost unnerving amount of love in her eyes, started singing, "Did you ever know that you're my hero – you're everything I wish I could beeeeeeeeee!"

Vinnie's office door swung open. "What the fuck is going on? It sounds like there's a fucking dying animal out here!"

"That's just Lula thanking Stephanie for breakfast," Connie told him.

"Well, next time pick up a pen and paper and write a note. Am I the only one working today?" Vinnie asked half-whining, half-yelling.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, you ol' grouch," Lula said to him as he slammed and locked his door.

I turned to Connie. "Do you have anything for me today?"

"Nothing yet, but the day is still young. I do have a couple for RangeMan. Are you heading over there?" she asked.

"Not today. Ranger is supposed to be back tomorrow sometime, if he's on schedule with saving the world."

"Girl, I still can't get over you and the Dark Knight! I bet you can't wait til he gets back. I'm telling ya, the things I'd do..." Lula trailed off. Thankfully. I still couldn't discuss my love life with Ranger. It was so new and I was trying to keep things private. That aspect of our relationship was good though. Very good.

I grabbed a doughnut for the road and said goodbye to the girls. "Call if anything comes in for me," I said to Connie as I walked out.

I had a whole afternoon to myself. My first stop was undoubtedly the bank to deposit my check, then a quick stop at the mall. Afterward, I'd visit my parents and mooch some lunch.

As I was making my way through the mall, my phone rang. From the ring tone, I knew it was Valerie.

"Hi, Val."

"Hey, is Ranger back yet? Did you talk to him?" she asked instantly.

"Oh, I'm wonderful, so nice of you to ask. How are you?"

"Sorry, of course I want to know how you are. I can't think straight. I have a couple of hours before I have to get the babies dressed to go out and then swing by the school to pick up Angie and Mary Alice. I was just hoping you were able to talk to Ranger and see if he'd be able to help me out."

"I haven't talked to him," I told her. Again. "I'm actually at the mall and then heading to mom and dad's so if there isn't anything you need…"

"You're going to Mom's? I'll get the kids ready and meet you there!"

Shit.

At least my mother would be making something tasty. I decided to give her a heads up to let her know that she'd have company.

"Come over, there's plenty for everyone! Your father is out at the lodge, but Grandma and I are here. We'll see you soon," my mother said before she hung up.

I walked through Macy's, out to my car, and headed for the Burg.

As I pulled up in front of the house, I noticed Valerie had beaten me there. She was standing at the door with my mother and Grandma Mazur. They seemed to have a sort of inner radar that detected when an offspring was approaching.

"Come in, come in!" my mother said through the screen door. "I have pasta salad, potato salad, chicken, and cannoli for dessert."

"Or if you're the toothless type, you can have strained peas or breast milk!" Grandma piped in.

As I got closer to the door, I realized baby Hannah was attached to Valerie, already having lunch. "I'll stick with chicken, thanks," I said to Grandma. Lisa, Valerie's other daughter who was just a year older than Hannah, was in her high chair with cheerios scattered around her. I snagged a cheerio, kissed her head, and sat down at the dining room table. Mom went to the kitchen. Val, Hannah and Grandma joined me and cheerio-girl at the table.

"So, where's that Ranger?" Grandma asked me. "Is he still your boyfriend?"

Was Ranger my boyfriend? I could never see myself calling him a boyfriend. That word would never describe him. He felt like more than that. I'd known him for years and every time he was close to me, I swear I could sense his presence. "He's out of town, but yes, we're still seeing each other."

"Oh, when is he coming back?" my mother wanted to know. "He should come to dinner when he's back."

We all sat there looking at her. She had the hardest time with the whole Morelli break-up and when she got the inevitable call from the Burg grapevine saying I was on a date with Ranger, she just about snapped. The only thing in the house that wasn't ironed was the water.

"Um, well, he should be home this weekend. I'll let him know you mentioned dinner," I said, still shocked.

"Ranger is going to help me workout!" Valerie announced to the table.

"Hot damn!" Grandma said. "Wouldn't mind watching him flex all those muscles."

"He hasn't agreed to it yet, Valerie," I told her. "His schedule is much different than yours. If he doesn't, I can go running with you a couple times a week." I really hated running, but I didn't have a good feeling Ranger would be happy about exercising with my sister.

Mom brought out the food and we dug in.

"I could use some exercise," Mom commented. "Maybe if you girls start running, I could join you."

Might as well get a permit for a freakin' parade while we're at it.

"Make sure you all wear those tight bras when you run. Don't want anyone getting their eyes poked out," Grandma said.

As we were finishing up lunch, my phone rang. It was the bonds office.

"Hello?"

"Steph," it was Connie, "got a skip for you, fresh from the no-show line at the courthouse."

Well, there goes my day off. "Great, what's his deal?"

"Anthony Marco. Thirty years old, 6-foot-3, and 180 pounds. Arrested for public intoxication and criminal mischief. He got drunk and then slashed his ex-girlfriend's car tires. He wouldn't have been caught if he didn't make a big scene afterward. The dipshit was yelling at the car and a neighbor called the cops."

"Anything in there about a gun?" I hate it when they have guns.

"Nope. He seems like a normal idiot."

"OK, I'll come get the file. Ask Lula if she wants to come."

Connie asked and I heard Lula respond, "Fuck, yeah! I was just thinkin' I needed to kick some ass today."

"You got that?" Connie asked.

"Yep, I'll be there in fifteen," I said and hung up. "Sorry everyone, I have to cut this short. Gotta get back to work."

"Need my help?" Grandma asked, using her thumb and forefinger as a gun.

"No, thanks. Lula's my backup today."

I gave each baby a kiss, took another cheerio, and left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I pulled the Camry into the space right in front of the office. I could see Lula getting her jacket on, so I figured I'd wait in the car.

"Girl, you gotta see this Anthony Marco," she said, handing me the folder. "He's a little too skinny for my liking, but check out those muscles! Wonder why his ex-girlfriend left his fine ass."

I had to admit, he was good-looking. Albeit not very stable. "The police report says he slashed her car tires with steak knives." Great. At least he stabs rubber and not people.

"Huh. Wonder how he cuts his steak now?"

Anthony Marco lived in a house similar to my parents' house. It shared a common wall with the next door neighbor, had a ridiculously small front yard and the bathroom window was directly over the garage making for an easy escape. I knew this because I used to sneak out of my parents' house the very same way.

"I'll knock on the door," I told Lula. "You go to the back and also try to keep an eye on the bathroom window."

"Shit, you think he's gonna run, don't you?" she asked.

"No." Yes. "He probably just forgot what the day was and I'm sure he'll come quietly. The window just caught my eye for some reason. This house reminds me of my parents' house."

"Uh huh."

I watched Lula walk to the back and waited about a minute for her to get in place.

I approached the door and heard the muffled sound of a radio or television. He must be home. I knocked a few beats and waited. Anthony Marco answered the door. He looked relatively normal, for a guy who stabs car tires. He had on a long-sleeved t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. The file said he worked from home, so no need to dress up for work.

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Marco? I'm Stephanie Plum, I work for your bail bondsman and you missed your court appointment. I need you to come with me so we can reschedule." I handed him my card.

"Sorry, I was getting ready to head out. The whole thing is bogus. She cheated on me! I don't hurt women, but I had to do something to let her know how pissed off I was. I slashed her tires and peed in the tank, so what?" He was getting a little agitated.

"You peed in the tank!" Lula's voice said from the side of the house. "Shit, that's disgusting! That can't be good for the car."

"Who the hell are you?" Marco asked, obviously surprised by the laughing black woman with bright red hair and matching spandex mini-dress.

"I'm Lula, sugar. I'm her assistant."

"Why were you hiding? Did you think I was going to run?"

"Procedure," I told him.

"Fine, I'll go with you. Come on in so I can get some normal clothes on and we can go. This won't take long, will it?"

Wow! An easy apprehension! I smiled at him, probably showing how relieved I was. "It won't take long at all. I'll call my boss and have him meet us down there to get a new date set."

Lula walked up the steps and we both went into his house. It was sparsely decorated, lots of empty beer cans and trophies. It reminded me of a frat house.

Marco went upstairs and I called Connie to see if she or Vinnie could meet us down there. I told her we'd call when we were on the road.

Lula walked over to the trophies. "This guy's an athlete. Second place New Jersey Marathon and first place Long Bridge Half Marathon. There are a ton of these. Dude must be fast."

Maybe I could get him to help Valerie exercise. It might actually be easier to talk this guy into it than Ranger.

"Hey, what's taking him so long?" Lula asked

Come to think of it, I hadn't heard any footsteps or noise from upstairs for the last couple of minutes. "Anthony? Are you okay?" I shouted up the stairs.

No response.

"I bet he ran," Lula said. "He's probably half way across the state. There's no way we'll catch up."

"I'm going to check upstairs," I told her. "Take a look outside for open windows."

"Gotcha."

I walked upstairs and saw the bathroom door was closed. I knocked. Nothing. I could hear Lula downstairs.

"The window over the garage is open," she yelled to me. "Looks like Mr. Marathon is long gone."

"Damn! Shit! SHIT!" I yelled. I should've never gone into the house. The sad thing is, this isn't the first time someone did this to me. At least this time it was a 30-year old runner. The most embarrassing time was with Eddie DeChooch – who was 80-something, partially deaf, partially blind and majorly depressed.

We flicked the lock on the door and closed up behind us. This was still the Burg and we had manners. You never left an empty house unlocked.

We hopped in my car, circled the neighborhood a few times, and went back to the office when we figured this was a lost cause.

"Hey, I was just waiting for your call," Connie said when we walked in. "Uh oh. He got away, didn't he?"

"Right out the bathroom window. Did you know this guy is a marathon runner?" I asked her. "He had trophies everywhere in his living room."

"Maybe we should think about putting an athletic category on the bond form," Lula said. "If it says the person is athletic, we give it to RangeMan. Those boys stay in shape."

RangeMan was Ranger's company. They offered tons of services: bond enforcement, home and business security, background investigation, private security, and I'm sure a wide range of other things that were mostly legal. All of the employees wore black, had tons of muscles, and looked like they'd been kicking ass all of their lives. They were also extremely loyal and trustworthy. I'm also pretty sure they were superheroes.

"RangeMan won't take a skip with a bond under a hundred grand," Connie reminded her.

"We should set standards like that," Lula said. "At least he didn't shoot at us, though. I hate when they shoot at us."

Thank God for small favors.

"It's funny," I told them. "Valerie has been calling me for the last few days, begging me to ask Ranger to work out with her..."

Connie and Lula burst out laughing. It was funnier said out loud, especially when it was not the middle of the night.

"Oh God, Steph!" Connie gasped in between laughs, wiping away a tear, "Can I please be there when you ask him?"

"Yeah, I'd pay to see his face!" Lula said.

I chuckled. "The shittiest part is when he says no, I told her that I'd go running with her."

That made them laugh even more.

"Hey!" Lula said, jumping up. "Look at who just ran by across the street! It's that little running mother-fucker Anthony Marco!"

And it was. Apparently, when he went upstairs he changed into shorts and running shoes before climbing out the window.

I felt my pockets making sure my cuffs were there and bolted out the door. He'd been running for at least half an hour, he should be tired by now, right?

"ANTHONY MARCO, you jackass! You're in violation of your bond agreement!" I yelled, running after him.

Marco turned his head and saw who was chasing him and if it was even possible I think he picked up speed. I was also running at full speed behind him and did well for a few blocks, until we were near the corner of Hamilton and Grand. That was when he grabbed the garbage can in front of the Tip Top Sandwich Shop and threw it at me.

**WHAM!**

It got me right in the torso and I flipped over it, spilling everything over the sidewalk. All of the air was knocked out of my lungs, so I just laid there, hoping no one saw. I was lying in God-knows-what, Anthony Marco was long gone, and I could feel the scrapes and bruises forming. I heard the sound of Lula in her three-inch Via Spigas running up to me.

"Are you OK?" she choked out between gasps. "That fucker is fast! Let me help you up, you're lying in some nasty shit."

She got me to my feet, took a newspaper from the ground and swatted away pieces of garbage. I could feel the breeze hitting the wet spots on my clothing. I had to get home.

"Yep, you're covered in mustard," she told me.

"I gotta get home. I'm not cut out for this running thing. We need to have a B.E.A. K-9 unit."

We walked back to the office. Lula brought my purse out of the office and handed it to me. I got a blanket out of my trunk, threw it on the driver's seat and thanked Lula for grabbing my purse.

"Maybe you should try that running thing," she said to me, closing the door.

Maybe I should. Maybe I should call Valerie and start now. Maybe I should pick up a six-pack of beer and drink until that sounded like a better idea.

I pulled into my apartment complex and gingerly got out of my car. Grabbing the blanket, I headed toward the elevator. I got to my floor, let myself into the apartment and removed the majority of my clothes leaving my underwear and bra on.

I threw the blanket and dirty clothes into the sink and started walking to the shower when I felt a tingly feeling on the back of my neck and realized I wasn't alone.

"Babe."

It was Ranger! My mind registered that it was Ranger, but I couldn't help yelping and jumping.

Ranger's real name is Ricardo Carlos Mañoso. He earned the nickname 'Ranger' while in the Army. He's about half a head taller than me, his skin color is mocha latte due to his Cuban ancestry and his body is as good as a body can get. He has a gorgeous 200-watt smile, which he used on me when I jumped. Wow, I'd missed him. He stood up from the couch and walked over to me.

"Long day?" he asked, picking a piece of what I assumed was bologna out of my hair.

I couldn't stop myself. I lunged into his arms and hugged him tightly around his neck. "What are you doing here? I thought you were coming back tomorrow!"

He was wearing a normal outfit of black cargo pants, black boots, black t-shirt, which seemed to be painted on his deliciously sculpted chest, and black SEALS hat over his long dark brown hair, which was pulled back with a leather tie. And he smelled wonderful.

"Got the bad guy sooner than anticipated," he said, with a small grin on his face. "What do you want to do first, shower or tell me what happened?"

"Hmm," I said, kissing his neck. "I thought you knew how to multitask?"

_A/N: Thank you to all of the viewers, followers and especially to those who left reviews after reading the first chapter. Your feedback means the world to me. If I haven't responded to you yet, I will shortly!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After we showered and dressed, and I told him all about my run-in with yet another garbage can, we ordered dinner. No one at RangeMan knew he was back, except for Tank, and even he had instructions not to contact Ranger until tomorrow when he was officially back. Tonight was ours.

"So, how are you planning to catch Anthony Marco?" Ranger asked me.

"Luck?" I said, shyly grinning at him.

"Babe."

"Maybe I'll break into his house and sit in his living room until he comes home and scare the heck out of him," I said. "I know someone who's pretty good at that. Maybe he can teach me." Maybe I'll break in at night while he's sleeping and stun him in the neck. That was more my speed.

"He's a marathon runner. He runs twenty-six straight miles for fun. You might have to get creative with this capture."

"Thank goodness. I thought you were going to try to tell me to run and catch him."

"If you put your mind to it, you definitely could get him. Especially if you focused on sprinting," Ranger told me.

Oh! I forgot to mention Valerie's predicament to him. As I was about to, there was a knock at the door.

"I'd rather focus on eating at the moment," I said to him, as he got up to answer the door.

He paid the delivery guy and brought in our food. We decided to order Manny's tonight. Manny's was known for their pasta, so I ordered chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with a slice of chocolate cake for dessert, and Ranger got some sort of fancy chicken salad, no dessert.

Ranger smiled at me. "That stuff will kill ya, Babe."

"Hey, there's broccoli in here," I pointed out a couple specks of green. "That is broccoli, right?"

I got the full 200-watts with that.

"You're lucky you're so damned good-looking because you really don't know how to eat," I told him.

"I know how to eat," he said, winking at me.

I felt my entire body blush. I felt the power of that wink all the way to my toes. I had no comeback for him.

I'd mention Valerie later.

After we finished dinner and dessert (and I don't mean chocolate cake), we cuddled in for the night.

I woke with a start to my phone ringing. It was 5 a.m..

"Ignore it," Ranger said, pulling me closer.

"It's not for me," I told him. "It's for you. I've had to answer it every night this week."

That seemed to pique his interest. He reached over me and hit the talk button.

"Yo."

I could hear Valerie on the other end, in her normal middle of the night panic-mode.

"Hello? Ranger? Is that you?"

"Who is this?"

"It's Valerie, Steph's sister. Are you back in town? Oh my God, did Stephanie talk to you!"

He glanced over at me. "Talk to me about what?"

Oh boy. Here it comes.

"About you being my sort-of personal trainer, silly!" Ranger's eyes cut to me and I tried to hop out of bed. He grabbed my arm and I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smile. I wondered if Ranger had ever been called silly.

"Hold on," he told her, pressing the mute button on the phone. "Forget to mention something, Babe?"

I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "She's been calling me at this time every single night, begging me to talk to you. She knows how athletic and strong and healthy... and wonderful... and caring... and forgiving...you... are."

He continued to watch me.

"She just wants you to show her how to exercise and lose weight, and then she'll be on her own. She needs you to be her Yoda for a couple of days, a week tops. She also wants you to have mercy on her younger sister, who also means well and just wants to sleep at night!"

He clicked the mute button again. "Six o'clock, Monday morning. Steph's apartment."

"OH, RANGER!" Valerie screamed. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I owe you big time, you have no idea how much this means to me. You won't regret it! I'll be the model student, I swear!"

"Stephanie and I will see you then," he said, staring at me the entire time and hung up.

I gasped. "What exactly do you mean by Stephanie and I?" I said, my eyes threatening to fly out of my skull.

"_Valerie_ will be learning how to run. _Stephanie_ will be learning how to sprint. _I_ will be enjoying every minute of it."

I grumbled. He smiled and kissed my forehead, pulling me close to him. I'm not sure who was more looking forward to this, Valerie or Ranger.

I woke up at seven to an empty bed. I could hear the shower running and smell coffee brewing. I reluctantly got out of bed, threw my robe on and went out to the kitchen to check on the status of said coffee.

I heard Ranger turn off the shower, so I grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet and poured the coffee. I put sugar and cream in mine and left Ranger's black. I searched the fridge for something breakfast-y and moderately healthy to put out, but came up with nothing. I was contemplating sharing Rex's carrots with Ranger when he walked in.

I took a carrot and put it in Rex's cage. Then I took one out of the bag and offered it to Ranger. "Breakfast?"

He gave me a quick kiss and tapped my butt. "Go shower and get dressed, Babe. We're going to my place for breakfast. Tank will be here in 20 minutes."

Ranger's place was on the seventh floor of the RangeMan building. Breakfast at Ranger's meant his housekeeper, Ella, was cooking. Ella's cooking was out of this world, not to mention deceptively healthy.

I showered quickly and dressed in a dark blue, low-cut top with a white tank top underneath and a pair of khakis. I fluffed my hair under the dryer, put on mascara and lip gloss and was ready to face the day.

I walked into the kitchen and Ranger was on his phone. He scanned me from top to bottom, smiled and closed his phone. "Tank's out in the lot waiting." He moved closer and put his hands on my waist. "Very sexy."

If I wasn't so hungry and if Tank wasn't waiting for us, it would probably have been easy to convince me to stay an extra half hour or so.

Ranger's lips tipped up at the sides and he whispered, "Babe."

I didn't think I said that out loud.

I locked my apartment and we took the stairs to the lobby. I was able to spot the black RangeMan SUV right away. Tank was behind the wheel, sporting a pair of mirrored sunglasses, shaved head and a tough demeanor.

Tank was Ranger's right-hand man, in charge of RangeMan when Ranger goes "in the wind." He was a six-foot-six black man and built like, well, a tank. He was the Robin to Ranger's Batman. He also had a soft spot for kittens... and Lula.

I got into the backseat and Ranger sat next to Tank. They did some kind of complicated handshake and we were on our way.

About ten minutes later we turned onto Haywood Street pulling in front of the seven-story RangeMan building. Tank clicked a key fob to open the iron gate which led to the parking garage. He parked the SUV in an empty spot in between Ranger's Porsche and another black SUV.

I got out of the car and looked at Ranger. He gave a quick glance toward his Porsche and if I wasn't mistaken, he relaxed a little. He missed his car.

"Do you want us to give you some alone time?" I said eying him, then the car.

"Breakfast first," he said smirking.

We walked to the elevator at the end of the garage. Tank got out on the fifth floor and nodded toward us. Tank's equivalent to a hug and kiss goodbye. I waved to him as the door closed. Ranger hit a button on his key fob and we were on our way to the seventh floor.

He opened the door to his apartment and placed his keys on the side table in the foyer. I put my purse on the floor and slipped my shoes off. The apartment smelled lightly of Ranger, his Bulgari shower gel and breakfast.

Yum, yum and yum.

We sat at the bar stools in Ranger's kitchen, taking the lids off the food Ella brought. Two egg white omelets with a lot of veggies cooked in, fruit salad, bagels and cream cheese, and blueberry muffins. There was also coffee brewing in the coffee maker.

Ranger must've noticed my excitement over the muffins. He put his hand on my thigh and said, "Ella likes you, Babe."

And I loved her. A lot.

After we ate, Ranger had to go to a meeting to catch up with the happenings of the last week. He asked me to go to Vinnie's to pick up RangeMan's FTAs. He gave me the keys to the Porsche and told me to bring the files to his office when I came back.

We took the elevator down. Ranger got off on five and I rode down to the garage.

I could see why he loved this car so much. It was sex on wheels. I couldn't see why he trusted me with it; I didn't have a good track record with his cars. I didn't have a good track record with ANY car. Well, except my Uncle Sandor's '53 Buick. That thing was indestructible. It was also a gas guzzler of epic proportions and definitely not the ideal car for a bounty hunter trying to be stealthy.

I started the car and key fobbed my way out of the garage. The bonds office was only open a half day on Saturdays. Most likely Connie would be there. Saturdays were hit-or-miss with Lula, depending on her Friday night activities.

I snagged the parking spot in front of the office. Connie and Lula were both in; I guess Friday night wasn't too exciting.

"So," Connie said, "you're driving Ranger's car. Does that mean he's back?"

"Yep, got back yesterday evening," I told them. "He had a meeting this morning, so he asked me to come by and pick up RangeMan's files."

"Got 'em right here," Connie said pointing to a stack of about five folders on her desk.

"Hold up." Lula said. "You're not just going to come here in his car and not give us any of the details of last night. Did you ask him about teaching your sister how to exercise?"

Well, at least she wasn't asking me to divulge the good stuff of last night. "Actually, Valerie called and kind of asked him herself."

"No!" Connie and Lula gasped at the same time.

"Yep, and we start on Monday at 6 a.m.," I told them.

"We? As in Ranger said no, so you and Valerie are stuck with each other?" Lula asked.

"We, as in the three of us. He wants me to try to work on sprinting to try to catch Anthony Marco."

"You wanna run to catch him? I thought we'd just run him over with one of our cars and that's only because the law frowns at shooting an unarmed person from behind," Lula said.

"That would be a hell of a lot easier. After yesterday, I wouldn't mind making him my new hood ornament."

"Fuckin' A," Lula said.

I left the office and drove back to RangeMan. After I parked, I rode the elevator to the fifth floor and headed toward Ranger's office, waving to a few of the guys on my way.

Ranger's door was open. He was in there looking over a spreadsheet on his desk. I knocked on the door frame as I walked in and sat down on the chair on the other side of his desk. I placed the FTA folders on his desk, keys to the Porsche on top.

"This isn't all that's left, right?" he asked me, holding up the keys.

"Har. Har. Har. FYI, I took good care of your car."

He grinned. "I know, Babe. If the car went off the radar, I'd be alerted immediately."

He started shuffling through the FTAs. Apparently, he found someone of interest because he picked up the phone, pressed a number and told whoever picked up, "There's something you need to see," then he disconnected.

About 20 seconds later, Tank walked in. He grinned toward me and took the folder Ranger held out to him. Tank looked it over, flipping a few pages and looked at Ranger. They were both smiling. I really wanted to know what it said.

"Looks like we're going to have some fun tonight," Tank said. "When do you want to do this?"

"Get a team together and we'll meet in the conference room in ten," Ranger told him.

Tank left, taking the folder with him. Ranger was still smiling.

"So," I said to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, inquiring minds want to know!"

"The folder Tank just took out is one of our regulars. Very wealthy. Very mean. Very connected with the judiciary system. No matter what the charge is, as soon as this guy walks into the courthouse he walks out with a slap on the wrist. Never hard time."

"If he's so connected, why didn't he show up for his court date?" I asked.

"Most of the judges in this county are getting up there in age, a lot are retiring. The new ones coming in are mainly former cops and he hasn't been able to get into their pockets. He'll only show up when someone he knows is presiding."

"So, what's he accused of?"

"It's usually just a simple assault, but this time around it's darker. The guys have been looking forward to our next run in with him."

"Looks like Christmas came early for the Justice League, huh?" I said to him.

"Looks that way, but Wonder Woman can't come to this party, Babe," he said, smiling but firm in his words.

"Wonder Woman has plans," I said to him.

"Oh?"

"Well, she could have plans if she wanted to." Damn.

He clicked his mouse a few times, shutting down his computer. He took the spreadsheet that was in front of him and handed it to me. It was a calendar. A calendar that had a workout schedule for Valerie.

"Look at you," I said to him. "Did you really take time out of your day to do this?"

"Yes and no. This is the exercise routine we use here, I just had to enter in her name and change the variables for some of the routines. I have one for you as well," he said grabbing a piece of paper from his printer, holding it toward me.

I didn't want it. I kind of liked the idea of hitting stupid Anthony Marco with my car. "No, thank you."

"Babe."

"Ranger."

"Please?"

I grabbed the paper and let out an overly dramatic sigh.

"Are you going to look at it?" he asked.

"Do I have to?" I still had a weekend of denial in front of me.

"Eventually, yes. Ella is going to meet you up on seven in a few minutes. She has some workout clothes for you and your sister." He stood up; I followed his lead.

"I'm impressed," I said to him, walking out the door.

Ranger stopped and turned me toward him. "You're also racking up the biggest bill to date," he whispered jokingly, touching my jawline and laying a feather-light kiss under my ear.

"Can we set up an installment plan?" I whispered back.

He kissed me again. "I'll call you tomorrow. Go find Ella."

I waved goodbye to him and went to the elevator.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I let myself into Ranger's apartment, put my purse on the side table and went through the archway in the foyer to his living room. The apartment was masculine, classy, and something about it made me feel instantly safe, probably because the whole place screamed Ranger. I always felt safe with Ranger.

There was a knock on the door. Ella.

She opened it and called my name. "In here, Ella." I said, waving to her.

She came in carrying a small basket on her hip. The basket was filled with a load of black clothes. "How was your breakfast?" she asked, sitting down next to me.

"Wonderful, the blueberry muffins were incredible. How'd you get Ranger to agree to let you bring them up?" I asked. Ranger was into the whole body/temple thing.

"He loves you," she said, smiling. "When he calls and says specifically that you will be there, I take it as code for bring the good stuff. It may sound silly, but before he'd just say 'food for two' and I'd bring the stuff he likes. He wants you to be happy."

"I'm pretty crazy about him, too." I told her.

She was taking the clothes out of the basket, laying them into two piles. Each pile had three black sports bras, two pairs of black yoga pants, one running jacket and three t-shirts. All had the RangeMan logo on them. Ella had an embroidery machine and sometimes she got a little logo-happy. Just ask my RangeMan underwear. "This is your stack and this is your sister's," she told me.

"Wow, thank you," I told her.

She pulled a sports bra from Val's pile. "This one is specifically designed for nursing mothers. She probably won't need it, but it's there just in case."

"That's really thoughtful. How did you know she was still breastfeeding?"

"Lucky guess," she said. "At the meeting this morning Ranger mentioned that she had her fourth baby a few months ago."

"You discussed this at the RangeMan meeting?" I was horrified!

"After the meeting. Myself, Ranger, Hal, and Tank. I was just in charge of the clothes, the rest of them have workouts scheduled."

Hal and Tank, too? Oh boy. I should probably check that worksheet. I had a feeling if I had to work with Hal, he was going to get back at me for using his own stun gun on him that one time.

"Oh. I didn't think this was going to be a big to-do. Valerie just wanted Ranger to show her how to do things and then she'd work on it herself," I said, panic setting in. "All I was supposed to do was learn how to run faster." And I didn't even want to do that!

"That's what they're going to do. They just like to be thorough," she said, standing up. "I have to start lunch now for the boys downstairs, is there anything I can get you?"

"No thanks, I'm going to head over to my sister's house and give her the clothes."

She helped me put the clothes back into the basket and we walked out together. She got off the elevator on the sixth floor, hugged me and said, "You will catch that marathon runner. You always get your man."

Aw, shucks.

I was heading down to the garage when I realized my car was at my apartment. At that very moment, my phone rang. Ranger's ESP must've picked up my sudden distress.

"Hal is in the parking lot; he'll take you home."

"Strange. I just remembered I didn't have a car here," I said to him.

"I know. I saw you on the monitor," he said to me.

I stuck my tongue out at the camera in the corner of the elevator.

"Babe," he sounded amused.

"Be safe tonight," I told him.

He was silent. He knew what he was doing.

"Okay, just try not to have too much fun with him," I said, hanging up the phone.

I figured he was still watching, so I waved to the camera and got out of the elevator.

Hal was standing next to a black SUV dressed in the required black clothes. Hal was slightly smaller than Tank, maybe 6'4". He had freshly buzzed blonde hair and reminded me of a dinosaur. His nickname in my mind was Halosaurus, but I wouldn't dare call him that out loud.

"Ready?" he asked me.

"Sure thing," I told him.

I climbed into the passenger seat and he sat in the driver's seat. He eyed the basket of clothes on my lap and said, "Ella?"

"Yep, she outdid herself again," I answered. "Hey, while we're talking about this, what role do you have in this whole Operation: Plum Sisters thing?"

He laughed. "Operation: Plum Sisters. I like that. I'll be there Tuesday and Thursday when Ranger can't make it. Whatever the schedule says is what we'll be doing." He started the car and we made our way back to my apartment.

Hal pulled into my parking lot and held the basket as I got out. He handed it to me and said goodbye. I went right to my Camry, unlocked the doors and drove to Valerie's.

I parked in the lot next to Valerie's house, which belonged to Gino's Tomato Pie. I walked into Gino's and ordered two large pizzas. Fifteen minutes later, I walked over to the Kloughn house and knocked.

Mary Alice, Val's second oldest daughter, answered the door. Mary Alice had curly brown hair, big brown eyes and was convinced she was a horse. She whinnied and pointed a hoof toward the living room. I found Valerie in there with the babies and Angie, her oldest daughter.

"Pizza delivery," I announced. A frenzy of excitement erupted. Angie took the boxes, Mary Alice grabbed paper towels and cups, Valerie handed me the baby and was yelling instructions to the two in the kitchen. Lisa was watching talking vegetables on the television. Albert was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Albert?" I asked.

"Working," Val answered. "He landed a pretty big case. If all goes well, we'll have a good down-payment for a house."

"Then we can get a pony, right?" Mary Alice asked.

"Horses have small stomachs for their size and need to eat little and often. You'd have to get a job to feed it," Angie responded. Angie was ten going on forty and a walking discovery channel advertisement.

"I don't think backyards in the Burg have room for horse stables," I told Mary Alice.

Mary Alice frowned. "Maybe I'll build an underground horse stable."

I had a feeling that one day we'd see her on an episode of Hoarders: Horse Edition.

After we ate, I went out to my car and grabbed Valerie's Range-Gear and schedule.

Valerie took her schedule and looked it over. "He's really helping me?" she asked.

"Not only him. A couple of his guys were recruited into helping us, too."

"Us? Are you doing this, too?"

"Yep. I have an FTA to catch and he's a runner. Ranger thinks if I step up my sprinting speed, I'd be able to catch him."

"Why not just run him down with your car?"

Ugh. The question of the day.

When I got home I cleaned the kitchen, including Rex's cage. I was trying to come up with something to do tonight when my cell rang. It was Lula.

"My man is busy tonight and I'm assuming your man is to blame for it."

"You know the files I picked up this morning?"

"Uh huh."

"Apparently, there was someone in the pile they've dealt with before and when Ranger saw who it was he called Tank in and they were smiling like fifteen-year-olds who saw their first porn flick."

"That figures. I'm dateless on a Saturday night. What are we going to do now?"

"We?"

"Hell yeah, we! Our men are having fun, so we have to have fun, too. We can't stay in and pine over their bad asses."

She had a point. "What were you planning on doing?"

"What I WAS planning I couldn't very well do with you. I save that for Tankie."

Oh boy. "We could go shopping, or out to dinner, or get a couple of drinks. We could call Connie and ask her to join us."

"Ladies Night, here we come. This will be just like Vegas! Except without the whole dead skip and creepy stalker situation. I'll call Connie and get back to you."

I went to my room to check what clothes were clean when the phone rang again.

"Connie's in. Her cousin is bartender at a place called Francesca's. Bring tip money, we drinking for free," Lula said.

He won't be losing any money on me. Three drinks and I'm down for the count.

"OK, where are we meeting?"

"Your place at eight. Connie's driving."

This allotted me a three-hour nap, plus time to shower, shave and primp. I still had the chocolate cake from last night, so dinner was taken care of. I gave Rex a couple crackers and went to lie down.

After my nap, I ate the chocolate cake reminding myself why I didn't get to eat it last night. I was glad to be home alone, because I could feel the goofy smile spreading across my face. I'd always said sex could never replace cake, but cake didn't have hands like Ranger. I sighed, put the cake box into the garbage and fork into the sink. It was time to get ready.

After the shower I dressed in tight jeans and an off-the-shoulder black cashmere sweater. I did the works on my hair and make-up and slipped on a pair of black boots that came just below my knee and had a three-inch heel.

Connie and Lula pulled into my lot at the same time. I met them outside and we piled into Connie's car. Connie was wearing a low-cut white sweater, black skirt and black heels. Lula was wearing a hot pink spandex dress with matching thigh-high boots.

We drove about twenty minutes and finally pulled into the parking lot of Francesca's. It was an old Victorian house that had been remodeled into a bar.

"This is a nice place," Lula said, as she stepped out of the car. She took about two steps and the heel broke on her boot.

Lula went one way; her leg went the other way. Connie and I froze with shock the second we heard the _**crack**_.

I couldn't see Lula's face, but the sound she made hit me to the core. I ran to her side and hoisted her torso against the car. Connie called 911 and ran inside the bar.

Lula was incoherent. She was swearing and screaming and grabbing her leg.

I once watched a basketball game where a player broke his ankle right on the court. It was gruesome. His bone was jutting out of his leg and blood was pooling everywhere. It's one thing when it's on TV, another thing when you're about to possibly see it firsthand on your friend.

"Lula, I'm going to take your boot off," I told her as calmly as possible. In reality, I was a mess and couldn't get the sight of the basketball player's leg out of my head. I knew her ankle had to be swelling and the boots she was wearing were tight.

I unzipped the boot from her thigh to her ankle and slowly pulled it off the rest of her foot. Her ankle was so swollen it looked like her calf fused with her foot. Her foot was angled in a way a foot should never be angled. No exposed bones, though.

Connie and a man came outside. "The ambulance is on its way," she said. "This is my cousin Sal and he brought rum." Sal handed Lula the open bottle of rum.

Lula drank from the bottle for a good ten seconds. She gave the bottle back to Sal, who was now looking at her leg with a look on his face that was a mixture of awe and horror.

The ambulance pulled into the lot about a minute later. An EMT came over to us and the other went into the back, pulling out the stretcher.

The EMT crouched next to us as he broke up ice packs and placed them on Lula's ankle and foot. "How'd you manage this?" he asked her.

Lula was less vocal now, but still unable to form a sentence. Tears were streaming down her face.

"The heel broke off her shoe," I told him.

"That'll do it," he said. "Let's get her on the stretcher."

The second EMT dropped the stretcher to the ground and they carefully hoisted Lula onto it. "We're heading to St. Francis," he said to me. "I have room for one person to ride with us."

"You go with her," Connie said to me. "I'll follow in my car."

I hopped into the back of the ambulance and buckled myself into a seat near Lula's head. The EMT was asking her for her name and insurance info. I scrambled through her purse, grabbed her wallet and handed him the cards. She was still crying. My heart was breaking for her. I put the back of my fingers on her face and rubbed from her temple to her cheek and back again.

"Lula, you're going to be okay. I'm going to stay with you. I'll call Tank when we have this all figured out."

When we finally pulled into the ambulance dock at St. Francis, the EMT who was riding in back with us gave me back her insurance cards and helped his partner get Lula off the truck and into the emergency room. I followed them into a curtained area. A nurse came in, took one look at Lula's leg and said, "She needs to get to x-ray. You have to stay here and wait. It'll be about fifteen minutes."

Lula looked like the rum had set in. She still looked like she was afraid to move, but she was calm. They wheeled her off to the x-ray area just as Connie came in.

"How is she? Do they know if it's broken?"

"They just took her to get an x-ray. So we'll see."

"Some ladies night," Connie remarked.

I grunted. That was for sure. All I could think about was the cracking sound. It sent a shudder right down my spine.

"Do you think we should call Tank?" Connie asked.

"I told Lula I would, but he's with Ranger doing a takedown tonight and I'm not sure if they'd be able to talk," I told her. "Maybe when we know what exactly the damage is, we'll call."

"Works for me."

A while later Lula was in a wheel chair with a temporary boot on her leg and in a slightly inebriated version of rhino-mode. "This is all Tank's fault. Hell, this is all Ranger's fault. Why did they have to go tonight to catch a bad guy? Couldn't this have waited? No, this is all Vinnie's fault. He assigned the skip to them in the first place. I wouldn't be here in this hospital, that's for sure."

We all agreed. This was Vinnie's fault.

A few minutes later, a doctor came in and placed images of Lula's ankle and foot on a lighted wall. "I'm Doctor Leonard," he told us, shaking Lula's hand. "I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?"

"Don't sugar coat it, Doc," Lula said, looking at him. "I just want to know how long I have to be in this place."

"Not for much longer. The good news is you don't need surgery, the bad news is that it is broken. We're going to take you upstairs to get your leg set in a cast and give you further instructions. It'll be on for about six weeks and then we'll recheck it."

"Do I need to come back here to get the cast off?"

"No, I'm just the on-call orthopedist on Saturdays. I have an office a few miles away on Hamilton where I see patients on weekdays." He handed her a card. "Call the office Monday and we'll set up a follow up appointment."

A nurse came to bring Lula up to set a cast and gave her a prescription for pain pills. Connie and I were allowed to go up, but Lula asked if we could go to McDonald's and get food.

We hopped into Connie's car and went to the Golden Arches. We ordered six of everything from the dollar menu and three large milkshakes. On the way back to the hospital, I tried to get Ranger on his cell. It went right to voice mail.

"Call me," I said and hung up. I tried Tank and got his voice mail as well.

Connie pulled into the pick-up lane at the ER entrance and I hopped out to ask the receptionist about Lula. She picked up a phone to check and was talking to someone on the other end as my attention was diverted to a voice coming from the elevator.

"This is the ugliest freakin' thing I have ever seen. I can't wear my pretty shoes for six weeks. What about if it starts snowing? What about my social life? I'm a bounty hunter in training, how am I supposed to catch bad guys now?"

The nurse hung up the phone. "She's on her way."

No kidding.

The elevator door opened and a sympathetic looking orderly was wheeling her out. Lula was in a cast that went from mid-calf to her toes. She'd picked the color black for the cast. A nurse came in with crutches and handed them to Lula, telling her to put them under her armpits and slowly ease herself up.

She was able to get up, but it was uncomfortable to watch her hobbling with one leg in a black cast and the other still zipped in a thigh-high, three-inch hot pink boot. The orderly, the nurse and I walked around her, making sure she didn't take another spill and helped her into Connie's waiting car.

I climbed into the backseat with the crutches and called Ranger again. Voice mail.

"Don't worry about calling me back. We were at the hospital with Lula. She broke her ankle while we were having ladies' night. You should probably let Tank know. I assume we're going to my apartment for the night because I have an elevator, but Tank might want to call her in the morning to double check." I hung up.

We started eating the McDonald's on the way to my place. We were about halfway through when we pulled into my lot. It took a while, but we finally got Lula upstairs.

We sat Lula at the kitchen table, propped her foot up on a spare chair and unbagged the rest of the food.

"I sure worked up an appetite busting my ass," Lula said. "I hardly remember what happened. I stood up, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground and it felt like I was shot in the back of my leg. Connie and a man gave me rum and it tasted like coconuts. Then a lady was taking x-rays of my foot. Now I have this stupid black cast on my leg."

"It could be worse," Connie said. "You could be Joyce Barnhardt."

"Ain't that the truth," Lula agreed.

I raised my milkshake, "Here's to not being a dirty skank."

"Cheers!" we all said, taking nice long sips from our shakes.

After eating, we went to the living room to relax and watch TV. We settled on a Lifetime movie and ended up falling asleep.

The next thing I knew it was morning. I was on the floor with a blanket over me, Lula was near me on the couch and I could see Connie in my bed. I glanced around the room, looking toward the dining room and saw Tank and Ranger watching us. They were grinning like they had been almost twenty-four hours ago.

"What?" I asked them. I'm sure I had hair from hell and I didn't get the chance to wash my make up off from the night before. Plus, I'd slept on the floor all night and was beyond stiff. This wasn't the time to mess with me.

"I didn't say anything," Tank said, looking at Ranger. "Did you say anything?"

Ranger shook his head. "Did Connie kick you out of your bed?" he asked.

"I don't think I made it to my bed," I told them, holding out my hand. "Help me up."

Ranger walked over and extended an arm to me, pulling me up. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and tucked a curl behind my ear. "How was ladies' night?"

I pointed to Lula as an explanation. "Just so you know, she's blaming you two and Vinnie for putting her in this situation."

"Damn right I am," Lula mumbled from the couch.

Tank stood up and walked over to the couch, kneeling next to her head. He gave her a kiss and whispered something to her. It was a side of Tank I rarely see. Whatever he said made Lula smile. He kissed her hand and stood up.

"I'm going to get Lula a caramel macchiato, can I get you something?" he asked me.

"Cafe vanilla frappuccino," I told him.

"Make that two!" Connie yelled from my bed.

"Boss?" Tank asked Ranger.

"Make it three."

"Really?" I asked him. Ranger ordering a frappuccino was like the Dalai Lama ordering a double cheeseburger.

"It was a good night," he said. "I know of another way to celebrate, but not with everyone else here."

"Mmm yeah, pineapple upside-down cake," I said, knowingly baiting him.

He raised his eyebrow. "I like the upside-down part," he whispered.

I didn't really know what he meant, but I liked it.

Tank came back about twenty minutes later and handed out drinks and pastries. We all sat or stood around my kitchen table, eating our breakfast.

"Don't think this lets you offa the hook," Lula said to Tank. "I'm gonna have this ugly thing on my foot for six whole weeks. And it's my right foot, too. How the hell am I supposed to drive? How the hell am I supposed to get into my apartment? I don't have an elevator to get my broken ass up to the second floor. I gotta use the stairs and I'm feeling very fragile right now. Oh shit, how am I going to shower with this big ass thing?"

Tank looked at her, patiently waiting until she was finished with her rant. His lips turned up slightly at the edges. "I thought you'd let me take care of you," he said to her.

I thought that was a good choice of words for him to use with Lula. If he said I can take care of you, or used the words _if you want_ he'd be inviting her stubbornness to come out and turn his offer down.

"You thought right, because I'm gonna need to be taken care of," Lula said to Tank. She turned to Ranger, "that means he's not only available to you 24/7, he's also available to Lula 24/7."

Ranger turned his focus on her, not saying anything.

Connie looked from Ranger, to Lula, to Tank, and finally to me. "I feel like I should jump in here so no one gets shot," she finally said. Connie probably sat through a lot of discussions involving protection. She came from a mafia family, but no one really brought it up.

"None of us want to see you in pain," Ranger finally said. "If Tank doesn't do a good job he will answer to me."

"Hunh," Lula said. "Glad we're seein' eye to eye on this."

Ranger nodded to her. Tank smiled.

"Shit y'all, we're like the bad ass version of Friends!" Lula said.

Connie took off shortly after, followed by Lula and Tank. Lula's car was there from the night before so Tank drove it to his house, where Lula would be staying.

"So," I said to Ranger, "how was the take down?"

"Great. The men really love a good team-building exercise."

"Do I get to know any of the details?" I asked.

Ranger glanced at me and leaned back in his chair. "He was very surprised to see us. He didn't try to run, but he tried to fight."

"Was anyone hurt?"

He smiled, "I think I broke a nail."

Ranger humor.

It was Sunday morning. I knew it was my last day of freedom before training with Ranger and the Merry Men. I also couldn't help feeling a little guilty for missing mass. I crossed myself, thinking that I'd try to go next week.

Ranger asked me if I wanted to do some surveillance work with him, which meant basically sitting in a car for hours, watching a particular person or place. He didn't need me there, but I thought of it as quality time for bounty hunters in love. Also, I needed to balance my checkbook.

I showered, got dressed, and packed my purse with the essentials: gum, checkbook, mascara, pen, hairspray, pepper spray, Hershey bar, cuffs, cell phone, lip gloss and stun gun. A girl's gotta be prepared. I assumed Ranger had an arsenal of guns in his SUV, so why bother taking mine out of the cookie jar? It wasn't loaded anyway.

I dressed in jeans, a black turtleneck sweater and black CAT boots. Not my sexiest outfit ever, so I spiced it up with a matching light pink bra and panty set from Victoria's Secret. Nothing like knowing I was wearing cute underwear to put an extra skip to my step.

Ranger was in my living room watching the Giants pregame show, seemingly in his zone. I sat next to him on the couch. He reached over, grabbing my elbow with one hand and my side with the other, pulling me onto him. Ranger loved to kiss. Everywhere. I suddenly wished I'd forgotten to put my clothes on.

He squeezed my thigh, made a low growl, which never failed to send all kinds of good shivers through my body and let me go. "Ready?"

Yes. "For what?"

"Surveillance, Babe."

"Oh, that." I stood up and walked over to my purse, pretending he had no effect on me but didn't think I was very convincing. "You did that on purpose," I told him

He turned the TV off and smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

One of the things I found so incredibly sexy about Ranger was his ability to turn from a semi-normal relaxed guy into a no-nonsense badass at the drop of a hat. I sometimes wished he had his own background music following him around at moments like this. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black cargo pants and was lacing up black boots. When he stood up he put on a black jacket and mirrored sunglasses. He put on his utility belt and opened the door for us.

Cue the background music.

If I had my own background music it would probably be like the Dick Van Dyke Show theme song - falling over the ottoman part included, but when I was with Ranger I'd borrow his music. I might still fall over the ottoman, but I'd feel tougher doing it.

We took the stairs and went out to my parking lot. Ranger was driving a black Lexus LX SUV that was shiny, sleek, hooked up with high tech gizmos, and probably carried enough weapons to protect a small country during war.

He opened the passenger door for me and closed it when I was in. He walked around to his side, slowly scanning the area, checking for bad guys. This was more of a habit than anything else; I hadn't been threatened in a while.

He handed me a file when he got in the car. It was for **McAllister's Computer Repair Shop**, a seemingly normal mom and pop business. I wondered why we were doing surveillance there.

"We're going to Hamilton Township to check out one of the businesses RangeMan secures. Our job is to watch the mail box and anyone who may approach it," Ranger said, starting the car and driving out of the lot.

I was going to mention the mail doesn't run on Sunday, but I'm pretty sure we weren't looking for a deranged postal worker. "Why do you think something is going to happen to the mail box?" I asked him.

"For the last three days, someone has been walking to the mailbox and putting a small package in it. It's never the same person leaving the package. Exactly two minutes after the drop off, a guy comes and removes the package. It's always the same guy. It's scaring the owner and his employees, so he asked us to install a camera and take care of it."

"Do you think it's a drug exchange?"

"Could be," he said. "We tracked down two of the three drop-off people we caught on tape. They received a large package on their front porches along with photos of loved ones and a note saying if they dropped off a smaller package in the McAllister's mailbox, no one would get hurt. "

"Yeesh. Have you seen any of the photos?"

"There's a folder in the glove compartment."

I flipped down the glove compartment and took out the folder on top. There was one photo of a mother holding a baby and another one of an older man sitting in a park. "Any fingerprints?" I asked.

"Only those belonging to the intended recipients."

"Has anyone opened the smaller package before delivering it?"

"The notes say not to open it or someone they know will get hurt. When the recipient sees the photos they take it seriously."

He had a point. If someone sent me a box with photos of my nieces or grandma, I'd take it pretty seriously, too. That didn't stop my curiosity from taking over though. I really wanted to know what was in the packages.

"So, you've seen the pick-up person on tape. Do you know who it is?" I asked.

"No. We know it's a man and we estimate him to be slightly over six feet tall. He's always wearing baggy dark clothes and a hood that covers the majority of his face. As soon as he gets the package, he quickly runs away and turns at the nearest side street. I assume he has a car waiting there. The cameras will tell us."

We parked about fifty feet from the storefront. Ranger picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Report," he said to the person. He listened for about 30 seconds. "Stephanie and I are in place now, you can go." He hung up the phone.

Just then, a black Ford Explorer pulled out of a spot across the street. The driver was Cal. He was dressed in black, had sunglasses on, and he rocked a flaming skull tattoo on his forehead. He nodded toward us and drove away.

"Wow, I didn't even see him there," I commented more to myself than Ranger.

"You have to be more aware of your surroundings, Babe."

I'd heard that before.

We settled in. Ranger was in his zone scanning the area and using the rear and side mirrors to check for anyone coming from behind. At least I think that's what he was doing because he was wearing the mirrored sunglasses. His breathing was slow; reptilian. Saving his energy in case something happened.

I'm not known for my ability to sit for hours, not talking. I balanced my checkbook, making a mental note that if I wanted to pay my rent this month I really needed to catch Anthony Marco. That got me thinking I should check the sprinting schedule Ranger gave me. I would have pulled it out now, but it was folded on my kitchen counter. I didn't have anything else to do, do I figured I should start watching the neighborhood.

"Do they always drop off the package at the same time of day?" I asked Ranger.

"No," was all he answered.

I wondered what he was thinking. Probably not the same stuff I was. I was thinking about his smooth skin, his gorgeous brown eyes that soften to pools of chocolate when he's aroused, his sculpted arms that look great in anything he wears, or doesn't wear for that matter. His big hands that were strong and sexy and good at everything hands could be used for.

"Babe?"

"Hmm?"

"You're looking at my leg."

"No, I'm not." And that was the truth. I was watching his hand, which happened to be on his leg. I shifted my attention to the storefront again.

Around 1 p.m., my stomach was noticeably growling. Ranger made a call, telling someone we were going to grab food and to keep a close eye on the cameras at McAllister's. He said we'd be back in 15 minutes and for them to alert him if there was any activity at the store.

Ranger pulled into a fast food burger place getting in the drive-thru line as I ran into the building to use the bathroom. I was washing my hands when I heard a horn beeping. I had a feeling it was for me. I ran out of the building and sure enough he was waiting for me.

"Get in," he said.

I hopped in, grabbing the oh-shit handle over the door as he tore off back to McAllister's.

We pulled up to the storefront and Ranger got out and walked to the mailbox. He looked inside and nodded to me. He closed it and went to the alley next to the store, slinking into the shadows. Ready to pounce.

Ranger had said someone always showed up two minutes after the drop off. After ten minutes with no activity, a RangeMan SUV pulled up behind us and Ranger came out of the alley. Cal got out of the SUV and they both went to the mailbox, slipping on rubber gloves before pulling the package out. Cal had some object and ran it over the package. Then they opened it.

Ranger's head shifted up toward me, then back at what they were looking at. His face was devoid of expression. Something wasn't right. I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of the car. Ranger gave the package to Cal and told him we'd meet him back at RangeMan.

"So, what was it?" I asked him.

"It was a picture," he said, his lips pulled tight.

"Of?"

"You. We need to get back." He led me to the car, glancing around at the surrounding buildings and heading to the driver's side.

We were on our way back to RangeMan. I had so many questions flying through my head I didn't know where to begin. "Why?" I finally said to Ranger.

"I don't know, Babe. Cal scanned the package to make sure there was nothing explosive inside. When we opened it there were three photos, a note and an empty box. I think someone was watching us out there because one of the pictures was of us today. They saw us leave then planted this package as a warning. They won't drop the packages off with us there."

"Do I need to be worried about this?" I was hoping he'd say no.

Ranger was silent and driving about twenty miles-per-hour above the speed limit, in an angrier version of the zone. I wanted to see the letter and photos, so I didn't say anything else. I figured it was best to wait until he was calmer.

We made it to RangeMan in half the time it normally took. Ranger got out of the car and slammed the car door. I got out and we took the stairs to the fifth floor. Cal followed close behind.

By the time we made it to the fifth floor, I was absolutely winded. I bent over to catch my breath and let Cal pass me. Maybe that workout schedule wasn't such a bad idea.

Ranger was walking at a pace triple his normal speed, barking orders to various large men. They were running from him, quickly trying to complete their orders. I knew I should be freaked out about all of this, but I was kind of turned on watching him take charge. Get a grip, I told myself.

I followed Ranger into the conference room and noticed Lester Santos at my heels humming U2's "Bloody Sunday" under his breath.

"Santos," Ranger barked, clearly not amused.

Ranger sat at the head of the long rectangular conference table. I sat to his right. A chair was open to his left, I assumed for Tank. There were four other men at the table: Cal, with his forehead tattoo, Lester, with his humming, Hector, with his teardrop tattoo under his eye, and Brett. The last time I worked with Brett, a beaver or some other dead animal exploded all over him. I'm sure the thought of working with me again brought back all sorts of warm and fuzzy memories.

"Where's Tank?" Ranger asked.

"ETA six minutes," Lester said, checking his watch.

Ranger addressed the room. "Another package was delivered at McAllister's. We were grabbing lunch when we received the call someone came by and put a package into the mailbox. We were able to return within ninety seconds of the drop off. I went to the alley and waited for the pick-up to happen. Cal showed up after ten minutes of waiting and we checked the mailbox. The padded envelope was addressed to us and contained an empty box, a letter and three photos of Stephanie. The items are being checked for fingerprints."

There was a knock at the door. Tank and Junior walked in. Junior is pretty much the clone of Cal, except for the forehead tattoo. He was carrying the photos and letter. "No prints," he said, handing the photos to Ranger.

Ranger passed the note and photos to Tank, who passed them to the rest of the table. When they finally made their way back to me, everyone was watching. I looked at the photos first. The first one was of me and Ranger from earlier in the day, sitting in the SUV. The second was a close up of my face with a blue wall behind me. The third was of me and Lula in my car, which had to have been taken the other day because Lula was wearing her red mini-dress.

"This was taken on Friday," I told Ranger, showing him the last photo. "I don't know where."

"How about the location with the blue background?" he asked me.

"No idea."

I took the letter from the bottom of the pile. It was a typed letter.

**To RangeMan LLC:**

**Your job is to respond to break-ins. This matter does not concern you. If you block a transaction from taking place again, the bounty hunter will pay dearly.**

It had my address toward the bottom and was signed with a big "X."

I handed the note to Ranger.

"We need cameras in the area capturing the entire block and the side street tomorrow morning," Ranger said. He said something to Hector in Spanish and continued, "Wear a generic uniform and don't take a RangeMan car."

Hector nodded and left the room.

He told the others to go to the control room and watch the footage they had recorded. He would email assignments to them later. They left and it was just us in the room.

"I think I might be disturbingly used to being threatened," I told him. "This really isn't registering on my bad-shit-o-meter."

"I'm not worried about that either, Babe. I know I can protect you." I knew that, too. Maybe that's why I wasn't freaked out.

He continued, "No one tells us how to run our company. And if they value their life, they don't threaten my girlfriend."

I smiled. "Girlfriend?"

He let out a small chuckle. "I thought I sounded like I was back in high school the second I said it."

I thought about it. 'Girlfriend' signals a commitment. Ranger had told me in the past that he didn't do the sort of commitment I needed, but I thought this felt right. "I kind of like it," I told him.

"Good," he said.

I agreed. It was good.

. . . .

We were sitting in Ranger's fifth floor office, reviewing the surveillance tapes from the last few days. It was always a normal-looking person, looking extremely anxious, dropping off the package. They were of varying ages and they all lived in different parts of Trenton. Tank did phone interviews with them and was unable to establish anything that might link them together.

The guy who picked up the package was tall and slender, dressed head to toe in black. He had light skin and always wore large sunglasses. No facial hair. Not much to go by. The only new bit of information was he was also the one who dropped off the package with my photos.

"Somehow, black clothes guy is keeping a watch on the shop," I told Ranger. "Since he delivered a photo of us in your SUV I'm assuming it's video surveillance."

"Or he lives in a nearby building and is keeping a watch that way. But I'm willing to bet you're right." He opened his phone and told the person who answered to get names and addresses of everyone on the street. Then he called Hector and gave him directions in Spanish. Hector was good at all things involving technology, so Ranger wanted him to check the area for cameras when he went out the next day to install the other cameras.

"I like when you speak Spanish," I told Ranger. "I have no idea what you're saying, but it sounds so sexy."

He wolf grinned toward me and said something else in Spanish. He took my hand and kissed it.

My body was on the verge of combustion. I held back the urge to fan myself. For all I knew he was telling me that I smelled bad. "What'd you say?" I asked him.

He smiled again and stood up. "Let's go upstairs and I'll show you."

Whatever he said apparently had something to do with scrambling the elevator cameras as we went to the seventh floor. He grabbed me and held me against the wall with his body, kissing me with urgency. When the elevator doors opened, he unscrambled the cameras and opened the door to his apartment. He closed the door and pinned me against it, much like in the elevator. I kissed his neck causing him to growl deep in his throat. He grabbed my ass and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his hips, realizing for the second time today we had way too many clothes on.

. . . .

I was chasing the guy in black down Hamilton Ave. He was fast and he kept throwing garbage cans at me just like Anthony Marco did. Every few yards a new trash can would appear and he would throw it. I was dodging them, but was getting really angry. I was unable to see his face and all I wanted to do was tackle him and twist his nose until he told me how he knew where I lived.

I woke up and realized the sun was setting. It was a dream, but I still felt annoyed I couldn't get the guy. Even in my dreams I'm not a good runner. How's that for self-confidence?

Ranger's side of the bed was empty and cold, and the smell of food was wafting into the bedroom. I got out of bed and put on a pair of black silk boxers Ranger kept in one of his drawers. I grabbed the long-sleeved shirt he'd been wearing earlier and tugged it over my head.

He was sitting in his office looking at his computer screen. He glanced up when I entered the doorway and asked, "How was your nap?"

"Fine. I had a dream about chasing the guy in black clothes and even dream-me was unable to catch him." I sat on the edge of his desk. "Pathetic."

"In the morning you start training, Babe."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

He grinned. "You hungry?"

I was starving. We never got to eat our lunch earlier. I didn't remember it being in the SUV, so maybe he was at the drive thru window when the call came in and didn't bother waiting. "Did we forget to eat lunch?"

"Cal called as soon as I ordered the food. I pulled out of the line, beeped for you and we went back to McAllister's. Then when I saw the photos of you, food was the last thing on my mind." He rubbed my stomach; it felt surprisingly sensual. "Ella told me to tell you she brought the good stuff," he said.

"Yes!" I said turning, half-running toward the kitchen.

I got to the kitchen and saw two covered casserole dishes and a large salad in a wooden bowl. Pot roast with carrots in one dish, mashed potatoes in the other. I did a little happy dance. I turned to the fridge and took out a bottle of wine. I glanced down a couple of shelves and saw a wonderful sight: chocolate cake. Bakery quality chocolate cake. I stood there, debating what I was going to eat first, when I felt a warm hand on my back.

"Babe."

"It's just so beautiful," I said to him.

He turned me around and tucked a curl behind my ear, "You're beautiful. That is cake." He kissed me. "Come on, I already filled our plates while you were drooling in front of the fridge."

I think he was kidding, but I wiped my chin just in case when he turned his back to me.

We ate dinner and I had enough cake for both of us. Ranger asked me to spend the night at his place until we had a better idea on the photos and deal with McAllister's. The only downside to this was I would have to get up even earlier so we could get to my apartment to meet Valerie.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The alarm was going off and it was still dark out. I felt Ranger lean over and turn the beeping off. I closed my eyes, trying desperately to go back to sleep. Maybe if he saw how peaceful I was he'd cut me a break and give me the day off. That could happen, right?

"Time to get up, Babe."

"No."

"No?"

I knew I was playing with fire. No one said no to Ranger.

I heard him walk to the bathroom. A few minutes later, the door opened but couldn't get a sense on where he was standing. I heard no footsteps. Ranger moved like a cat, stalking his prey.

My right leg was sticking outside of the blanket. I knew I was in trouble when I felt his hand wrap around it. He whipped off the blanket and pulled me half way off the bed.

Mumbling a couple colorful Italian phrases I learned from years of Burg upbringing, I stalked into the bathroom.

I came out and put on a pair of black panties, black yoga pants, sports bra and long-sleeved t-shirt. I grabbed a pair of socks and put my cross trainers on.

Ranger was in the kitchen waiting for me. It was 5:30 and we had to leave.

"Do you think we should eat breakfast first?" I asked him.

"I seem to remember you barfing up ham once when we went running," he said to me.

"Hmm. I see your point."

He handed me a bottle of water and grabbed a tote bag that was sitting on the kitchen counter.

"What's in there?" I asked.

He just looked at me.

"Medieval torture devices?"

"I keep those in my other bag."

.

We made it to my building with ten minutes to spare. We went up to my apartment and he told me to wait outside. He had his gun out and went room-to-room checking for crazies. The crazies apparently were sleeping in this morning, because he came back to the doorway and waved me in. He picked up the tote bag he'd placed next to the door and brought it into the kitchen. I leaned against the sink and watched him unpack the bag, placing its contents into the fridge.

Blueberries, strawberries, a tub of non-fat yogurt, orange juice, pineapple juice and broccoli.

"I'm assuming this is for a drink," I said to him. "But what's with the broccoli?"

He closed the fridge. "You put it all in the blender. You won't even taste the broccoli. I have to leave right after we finish, so you can make this to share with your sister. Try not to get doughnuts to accompany it."

"Wasn't planning on it," I told him. "The last time I went to Tasty Pastry I ran into Joe. Literally." I smacked my fists together. "Bam."

He paused and his blank face took over. "What happened?"

"I got out of my car and literally walked into him." I hit my fists together again.

"Bam," he said.

This was slightly awkward. Was Ranger a little jealous?

"He asked if you were treating me okay," I continued.

"And?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No complaints from my end," I told him, putting my arms around his neck. "But he did say to tell you that you had a good thing going and not to screw it up."

That made Ranger smile. "Good advice."

.

We walked out of the building as Valerie was pulling into a parking space. She was dressed in the clothes Ella picked out for her and looked eager. She was walking over to us when a second car came into the lot. It was Tank driving a black SUV.

Val continued over to us and Tank followed behind her.

"I'm so excited," Val said, hopping in her sneakers. She looked over at Tank. "You're my buddy for the first half of today, right?"

Tank grinned. "I'm your buddy."

We started stretching, not saying much to one another. Tank was on one side of me, Val on the other. I looked at Tank, "Where's Lula?"

"She's having a Harry Potter marathon at my house."

Ranger was grinning now, but said nothing.

"I'm going to miss her riding shotgun with me," I said to Tank.

"Don't tell her that, she'll try to get out and go with you. She's not supposed to put any weight on her leg. She's going a little crazy."

"Lula got hurt?" Val asked.

"Broke her ankle Saturday night," I told her.

Tank motioned to Valerie. "Come with me."

They walked away, Valerie skipping next to Tank. They started walking down the street.

Ranger went over to his car and pulled out a jump rope. He walked back and gave it to me. "Keep count," was all he said. He didn't give me a time frame, though I was sure I wouldn't last very long.

I separated the ends of the rope and put it in front of me, psyching myself up, trying to get into a grade school mentality. I stepped over the rope and started jumping. I got to seven and stumbled. "Do I start over counting?"

"Nope, keep going."

"Are you just going to watch me?"

"Babe."

Fine, I liked having an audience. Through the stumbling and re-starting I made it to fifty-nine jumps.

"Good, now squats," Ranger said to me like I was magically supposed to know what squats were. The only time I squatted was at the fridge, or a public toilet... I'm sure that's not what he meant.

I motioned my hands in an impatient way for him to show me.

He stood behind me, his hands separating my legs, lingering for a few seconds too long. "Keep your legs shoulder-width apart." He placed his hand on the small of my back, "Keep your lower back straight and squat down to an almost ninety degree angle, like you were about to sit in a chair." Strong and patient, he guided me down. "Then come back up, but keep your back straight. Look up at that tree branch to make sure you keep your neck and spine aligned."

I did ten of those and my legs felt like they were on fire. I was stretching them out behind me when Tank and Val leisurely strolled back toward the lot. I had to do squats and jumps, but Valerie got to take a walk?

When they were at the driveway to the parking lot, Tank said something to her and they started walking faster. Tank's stride was long, so he was still walking, but Valerie was full on power-walking trying to keep up with him.

Ranger told me to jump rope again and then go back to squats. He stood near me again, helping me with my form.

"Hal said he was filling in for you on Tuesday and Thursday," I said to Ranger, on my way up from a squat.

"Yes. Keep your back straight."

"So, am I doing these tomorrow with Hal?" I asked, squatting back down, noticing Ranger had his eyes on my backside.

"Not if he values his life."

When Tank and Val came back around for a third time, he started jogging. Val was full-on running behind him. It was quite a sight to see. Essentially, my five and a half foot tall sister was chasing a guy who was over a foot taller and at least a hundred pounds heavier.

Ranger and I paused to watch until they were out of view and he made me do another rep of the jumping and squatting. My legs were feeling like Jell-O when Tank and Valerie came running into the lot. Valerie was red and blotchy and sweat was dripping everywhere. She was holding her side, but she wasn't complaining.

"You're with Tank now, Babe," Ranger told me.

I didn't stay to see what Ranger's plans were with Valerie. She probably already knew, she actually read her schedule.

Tank looked at me. "You ready?"

"Ready for what?" I asked him.

"We're going to walk to the end of the block and sprint the next block, then walk the one after that, then sprint and so on," he said. "You ready?"

I nodded. I had to step it up in order to keep up with Tank's walking, but it was better than the squats. We made it to the corner and Tank took off. I took off, too, giving it all I had. I wasn't as fast as Tank, but I kept within a few yards of him.

We made small talk when we were on the walking parts. I asked if he was taking good care of Lula; he grinned and raised his eyebrows. I assumed that meant yes and sensed a slight sexual undertone when he raised his eyebrows. I think a nooner was going to be a daily activity for the next six weeks. He asked me about Anthony Marco. I told him everything that happened, including the garbage can in front of the sandwich shop. He told me most likely when I tried to catch him again, I'd go from walking to sprinting, so it wasn't necessary to jog the entire time on these workouts. I said that worked for me, but then he amended his statement, saying if Ranger said I had to run, he would deny this entire conversation.

We walked/sprinted through the neighborhood for about thirty minutes, eventually making our way back to my building. Ranger and Val were running from the opposite direction and we came into the lot together. Valerie and I were both gasping for air, red-faced, holding our sides, sweat dripping. Tank and Ranger looked like they always did, except with a little sheen to their faces. They were used to this stuff.

I sat on the grass and Valerie followed suit. Ranger bent over, kissed the top of my head and said they were going to work. Val couldn't speak, so she waved to them. I mumbled something that vaguely resembled "have a good day" and immediately laid down. Valerie laid next to me.

"How did it go?" I asked her.

"It sucked, but I'm glad I'm doing it. It also helped to see a nice ass running in front of me."

I agreed. It could definitely be a lot worse.

"Are they gone?" she asked.

I lifted my head a couple of inches, scanning the parking lot. No shiny black cars in sight. "Yep."

She let out a sigh. "I've never had sweat drip down my face like this. I swear I didn't know my hairline could sweat. I'm going to have to get a hat for next time to help soak up some of it. I wanted to cry when I was running, but it was like my tear ducts shut down and my entire body picked up the slack and started crying from every pore imaginable. I'm dripping with sweat."

"Did you save that dazzling piece of information just for me?" I asked her.

"I saved it for whoever would listen to me. I just couldn't speak while I was running. Plus, they're being so nice helping me for this whole week, if I complained they'd think I was rude and shoot me."

"You called Tank your buddy. I don't think he'd shoot you now."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Valerie said. "Oh gross, the underside of my belly is sweating."

My sister, ladies and gentlemen.

"This is kind of nice – lying on the grass, I mean," Val said to me. "I think the last time we did this was when I was nine and you were seven. I remember I was watching for butterflies and you were watching for Superman."

"I remember that," I said. "I remember thinking that if we laid still long enough, he would fly by and think we were injured. Then he'd save us and teach us how to fly."

"Well, that kind of came true, twenty-five or so years later," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Steph. If Ranger all of a sudden ripped off his clothes and was wearing Superman's suit underneath, would you _really_ be surprised?"

"I'd be a little surprised that it wasn't the Batman suit," I said to her.

"But you see what I mean. He's like a super hero. Your super hero. He's teaching you to fly. And I'm sure you don't have enough fingers and toes to count how many times he's saved you."

That was about right. I was always getting into trouble and he was always there to help me get out of it. He once told me he bled money when RangeMan had to get involved with my escapades. He said he wrote it off as entertainment in his budget. I was ten percent sure he was kidding.

We eventually got up and went to my apartment. We made smoothies from the ingredients Ranger left behind and soon after Val had to go home to shower and do her mom thing.

I had to do my mom thing, too. Rex was looking a little hungry. I gave him a couple of blueberries and some frosted flakes. He stuffed them into his cheek pouch and ran into his soup can. I did my own version of that, except I ran to hide in the shower.

At 9 a.m. I walked into the bonds office to find Connie talking to herself.

"...he asked me if I really needed a large. I seriously thought about shooting him." She looked up at me. "Stephanie's here."

I looked around. No sign of anyone else in the room. "Who are you taking to?" I asked.

"Who do you think she's talking to?" Lula's voice boomed over the speakerphone. "I ain't dead."

"I thought you were having a Harry Potter marathon," I said to Lula.

"You try watching all these movies by yourself and not get freaked out by Voldemort. He doesn't have a nose!"

"Where's Tank?"

"He left at 5:45 this morning to workout with y'all and then went to work. He said he'd bring lunch, but that's hours away."

"I was thinking about stopping at the bakery," I said.

"Then you were thinking about coming over to see your wounded sidekick, Lula, right?"

"Right," I told her. I turned to Connie. "Do you have anything for me?"

"I have a couple for RangeMan. Vinnie keeps bonding out these high bond skips and only about a third of them are showing up for their court dates. Ranger always gets them, but it's hurting our bottom line."

"You can give RangeMan's to Stephanie," Lula said. "She can bring them over here and I'll give them to my man."

"Fine by me," Connie said. She looked at me. "You might want to call Ranger and make sure he's not sending someone over to pick these up."

I saluted her and stepped outside to call Ranger.

"Yo."

"Yo, yourself. I'm at the office and Connie has a couple FTAs for you. I was thinking about visiting Lula and she suggested I just bring the files there for Tank to bring back to RangeMan."

"Okay."

"What? Are you paying by the word on your cell phone plan?"

"Bringing the files to Tank's house would be fine, Babe."

"Anything new with the McAllister account?"

"Not yet. We have three new camera angles, so we'll see what happens today. Be careful," he added then disconnected.

I walked into the office and picked up the files. "Tell Lula I'll be there in half an hour," I told Connie. "I'm going to drive by Anthony Marco's house and see if he's home."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

I had ten assorted doughnuts on my passenger seat. There had been a dozen, but I ate two on the way to Anthony Marco's house. Gotta keep the carbs up in case he runs again, right?

I parked across the street from his house, found his phone number in his file and called.

"Kind of busy here," he said as a greeting.

"Anthony, it's Stephanie Plum. I want to talk to you."

"Hey, I'm really sorry about that garbage can on Friday, but I can't go to jail right now. I'm on a deadline with work."

"I'm on a deadline, too. It's not like I get an hourly wage, I only get paid when I bring someone in and like I told you Friday, we can get you re-bonded quickly."

"Can't we make a deal?" he asked.

"What kind of deal?"

"I have a project I'm working on. If I have to go to the courthouse, I lose time. If I don't complete it on time, I lose everything. But if you give me until Thursday evening, Friday morning at the latest, I will go willingly. Then we can do the whole re-bonding thing."

That didn't sound so bad. "Promise?"

"If I wasn't afraid of you stun-gunning me," he said, "I'd come out and give you my pinky. This is my verbal pinky swear."

"OK," I said. "I hope you realize I take these things seriously. If you break your promise, you will have a broken pinky." I wouldn't do it myself, but maybe one of Ranger's Merry Men wouldn't mind helping.

"You can count on me," he said. I really wanted to believe him.

I hung up and called Ranger.

"Yo."

"You're in luck. Throw away my workout schedule. I just convinced Anthony Marco to let me take him in."

"You have him in custody?" he asked.

"No, but he promised I can take him in Friday morning."

He didn't say anything for a couple beats. "How do you know he wasn't lying?"

"He pinky swore." There was more silence on his end. "Are you laughing?"

"You're not getting out of the workouts until he's in police custody, Babe."

I closed my phone and drove toward Tank's house.

Tank lived on Howard Street. His house looked like it belonged to an old lady, rather than a human shield. It was a small yellow and white cape cod. It had a porch with white railings and a tiny front yard.

As I got out of the car, doughnuts and FTA folders in hand, my phone rang.

"I saw you pull up," Lula said. "This is some fancy-ass security here. Wave."

"What?"

"You're on TV. Wave!"

I waved, not sure who or what I was waving to. Lula laughed.

"Glad to see you're keeping yourself amused," I told her. I walked onto the porch and tried the door. It was locked. "How are you supposed to let me in the house if you can't move?"

"Hold on girl, I got a button."

I heard a buzzing sound and a few clicks. I turned the knob and the door opened. This was my first time in Tank's house. I was standing in a foyer and had no idea where to go. "Lula?"

"In here."

I found her in the living room at the end of the foyer. The room was masculine, but comfortable. Hardwood floors, beige colored walls with white crown molding. There was a big screen plasma TV on a stand with a cable box, DVD player and a couple other black boxes I'm sure were entertainment related. Lula was sitting, leg up, in the middle of a large plush L-shaped sofa. She had three remotes, a house phone, two cell phones, a laptop and various snack food wrappers surrounding her. There was a wheelchair at the end of the sofa.

"How's it going?" I asked, handing her the box of doughnuts.

"Look at me," she said, taking a bite of a jelly doughnut. "I've watched so many movies, I can't close my eyes. I need to get out there and do something."

I figured I'd stop this conversation right away, better to take her mind off wanting to get up. "Has Tank been taking care of you?"

"Yeah, he's my big sweetie pie. He answers my calls and brings me everything I ask for. He even brought me that wheelchair from RangeMan so I could get around here better."

"He loves you," I told her.

"It's about time he realizes it," she said. "I had our whole wedding planned out once upon a time and maybe it was my fault I rushed things and kind of scared him off, but maybe we're going to have our own happily ever after. Maybe this time I'll even let him propose on his own."

The first 'proposal' consisted of Lula slipping a ring on her finger minutes after Tank fell asleep. When he woke up she told him how happy she was. It spiraled out of control after that. The final straw was when Lula thought she was allergic to Tank. Turned out he had cats. He wouldn't get rid of them and she wouldn't take allergy shots. I guess if she was living here, she must be taking some sort of allergy medicine.

"Where are the kitties?" I asked Lula.

"He found homes for all but Suzy. He wanted to keep her. She's a Siberian cat and is supposedly hypoallergenic. I haven't broken out in hives yet so I guess he's right."

The only animal I've seen Lula get along with was Morelli's dog, Bob. I hoped she was getting along with Suzy too because Lula could be quite territorial.

"So," Lula said. "Tell me about the workout this morning."

"Besides losing all feeling in my legs and the ability to breathe, I guess it went well. Valerie did better than I thought she would."

"I remember going running with you and Ranger once and that was enough for me," Lula said.

"Yeah, I try to only exercise when my pants start getting tight."

"You gotta invest in some spandex," Lula said. "Anyway, how did my Tankie treat you?"

"He went easy on me. Walk a block, run a block, walk a block, run a block."

"I could do that," she said. "Well, I could when I get this ugly thing off. Do you think it goes with my outfit?"

Lula was wearing a black sequined miniskirt and a white sweater that was so low-cut I was afraid she'd spill out if she bent over. "It definitely matches. Black goes with everything."

"Sure does," she agreed. "I picked it for my cast because I was feelin' pissed off I had a broken ankle. I thought black was a color that said, don't mess with Lula. Plus it matches Tank. He's always wearing black."

I grabbed a doughnut out of the box and took a bite. "I can't wait to have you come back to work," I told her. Truth was, even though Lula was the Ethel to my Lucy and we screwed up a lot, having her around made me feel a little more confident.

"I was thinking of going to the office tomorrow," she said. "I'd take the wheelchair and do some filing that way. Keep Connie company and maybe I'd get a chance to run over Vinnie's foot."

Not such a bad idea, I thought. "You know, you're calmer about all of this than I expected."

"Me, too," she said. "I think it has something to do with the pain pills. It's like sometimes I'm screaming in my mind, but all that comes out of my mouth is a whisper. I'm also pretty relaxed. If I was in my right mind, I would think about shooting Vinnie. I just can't grow enough anger to really work myself up."

"I think rolling over his foot is a good start," I said. "I'd save shooting Vinnie for a special occasion."

We sat in Tank's house, eating doughnuts and watching TV. Lula showed me Tank's surveillance system, undoubtedly installed by RangeMan. We watched people walk down the street and cars drive by. Eventually, Lula fell asleep. I tugged a blanket over her and flipped through the channels on Tank's huge TV. After The Price is Right, I decided to call Ranger.

"Babe."

"Hey. Anything with McAllister's?"

"No. The control room has instructions to call me as soon as something happens. We have the area monitored. We want to see where this guy goes. How's Lula?"

"Drugged. Sleeping."

"I just finished a meeting with a new client. Do you have lunch plans?"

"I was thinking of going to my parents' house to mooch lunch, but if you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

"I have a lot of ideas," he said. "This would just involve food for now."

"You're in luck, I happen to like food." Sheesh, I'm such a dorky flirter.

"Meet me outside in five," and he hung up.

Lula started to snore. I cleaned up some of the wrappers around her, throwing them into the now empty doughnut box. I ripped a small piece of paper from one of the FTA files and wrote her a note saying I'd left and to call me if she was going to roll over Vinnie's foot tomorrow.

I walked out of Tank's house, locking what I could on his door before closing it. Ranger was in front of the house leaning against the passenger side of the Porsche, looking all kinds of gorgeous. A small hint of a smile played across his lips when we locked eyes.

He opened the door for me, keeping eye contact the entire time I walked down to his car. "Hi," I said to him when we were close. He let go of the door and pushed me against the car, giving me a kiss that almost made me forget that he was the one who'd made me do the squats from hell.

"Hi," he said, breaking away from the kiss.

I uncurled my hands from his shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles I'd made. I actually don't think I made wrinkles, but it was a good excuse to touch him. He was so warm and smelled so good.

"Still want lunch?" he asked, smirking.

"Yes. You owe me after those jumps and squats today. I need dessert, too. A big one," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow and flashed his 200-watt smile.

"You know what I meant!"

.

We were on our way to Pino's. Ranger had his right hand on the wheel and his left arm was relaxed on the window with his fingers near his temple. He shifted a look toward me, moved his left hand to the wheel and used his right hand to hold mine, giving it a squeeze. I held back a big smile, but a grin escaped. It was a simple sign of affection, but coming from him it meant a lot. Ranger and I had flirted for years and had one amazing night together in the middle of it all. When we first started dating, or whatever it was we were doing, we decided to take things slowly. He hadn't had a girlfriend in a long time, so he was trying to balance everything with his work and lifestyle. Our relationship was different, but we were making it work.

"You never told me how things went with my sister," I said to him. "How did she do?"

"For it being her first time, she should be proud of herself. We started out power walking then running. She asked a lot of questions and I tried to answer them as best I could."

"Like what?"

"She wanted to know what she could snack on during the day, where the best places to run were, what my intentions were with her sister, if I thought she should invest in a jogging stroller. Those kind of things."

My eyes grew wide. "W-w-w-what did you tell her?"

He was amused with my reaction. "Blueberries and raw vegetables I think are her best bet snack-wise."

"And the other question?"

"In regard to running," he said. "She can run anywhere. The street, the park, on the high school's track. It would be a good idea on weekends to take the older girls to the park to play soccer. It'd be good for all of them."

"Not that question," I told him.

"If she wanted to get a running stroller, that's fine. I'd wait to see if she's truly serious about exercise before making the investment. If she makes it through the winter, she should get one for the spring."

"Are you avoiding telling me what your intentions are because you like to see me squirm, or because I'm not going to like the answer?" I asked him.

"Not avoiding anything. You're cute when you're impatient." He pulled into Pino's parking lot and we idled in our parking space.

"So, what are your intentions?"

He smiled. "I have nothing but good intentions, Babe."

I made a mental note to ask Valerie what exactly he said and another mental note to not kill her until her children were all moved out of the house.

"She was looking out for you. No need to plan her death, Babe."

I squeezed his hand and let go. Even though not long ago I had about half a dozen doughnuts, I was suddenly feeling very hungry.

.

We were sitting at a round table in the corner of Pino's family room. Ranger had his back to the wall, in position to see the entire room. It was a little early for the lunch rush, so it was relatively quiet.

We ate in comfortable silence enjoying our food. He ordered a turkey sub and I got a meatball one. Toward the end of the subs, his phone vibrated. He answered it and had a very brief conversation with the person on the other end. He hung up and looked at me.

"There was another transaction at McAllister's. Cal was able to follow the guy in black, but lost him when he started cutting through backyards." He made a steeple with his fingertips and sat still for a minute, figuring out his next step. "Let's go to the store."

"You'll still owe me dessert," I told him.

Ranger signaled our waitress and left a couple twenties on the table. We stood up and walked out to the car.

On our way, Ranger said to me, "I don't suppose you have your gun on you."

"You don't suppose right."

He slightly shook his head and reached under his seat. He pulled out a Smith & Wesson similar to mine and handed it to me. "Tuck it at the small of your back when we get out of the car."

"Sure, sure." It was going in my purse.

We pulled up in front of McAllister's Computer Repair Shop. They operated in a red brick building with a large glass storefront. There was a large pink neon sign in the window that flashed OPEN, but it didn't look like anyone was in the store. Ranger got out before me and I slipped the S&W into my purse. I'd never enjoyed the feeling of a gun at my back, and seriously, what were the chances of being in a shoot out in the middle of a Monday at a little mom and pop computer shop? As I stood up, I fluffed my jacket in the back to give the impression I was covering the gun up.

We crossed the sidewalk and he held the door open for me. I walked in front of him and could feel his eyes on my back.

He grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear, "We're going to have a talk about the gun being in your purse later, Babe."

Shit.

In the middle of the store there was a large desk with another neon sign hanging from the ceiling that read Customer Service. We walked to the desk and Ranger rang a bell. While we waited I looked around the shop. On the walls were areas devoted to computer accessories. Power cords, carrying bags, cables, batteries, programs and other little objects that looked cool, but I had no idea what they did. There was a door behind the desk that led to the back of the shop. I could faintly hear people talking back there.

A few moments passed and a woman came through the door. Her hair was unnaturally blonde and straight and I'd place her age around twenty-eight. She had on a respectable amount of make up for Jersey standards and it looked like she paid a good chunk of change for her boobs. She was taller than me by a couple inches and it was easy to see any man with eyes would have a hard time looking away from her. She looked at me and gave a polite grin.

Then her attention shifted to Ranger and the grin grew into a full on smile, complete with a little eyebrow raise. "Hi, how can I help you?" she asked him. I guess once anyone sees Ranger I blend in with the background.

"I'm Carlos Mañoso from RangeMan. I'm here to speak with Edward McAllister."

"Sure," she said, looking at Ranger like he was lunch. "My name is Jenny, by the way. I'll be right back."

She went through the door and I let out an exasperated sigh. "Did you see that? She was looking at you like she's planning on having you buy her next boob job."

I could see a small chuckle bounce off his shoulders. "Babe."

A couple of minutes later two men walked through the door. Except for about a thirty-year age difference they looked exactly the same. Tall and good looking, dark brown hair (which was more salt-and-pepper on the older man), thin but muscular, and they both looked lik they needed a shave.

"This is Edward," Jenny said, walking with the older man to the desk. "Edward, this is Carlos Mañoso, with RangeMan Security."

The men shook hands and Ranger introduced me as his colleague. I saw Jenny and the younger McAllister walk to the far side of the desk, so I made my way closer to them, pretending to check out some accessories on the wall.

"I saw the way you looked at him, Jenny," he said to her through gritted teeth.

"We're not together anymore, E.J.," she replied, matching his gritted teeth with a set of her own. "So, I look at another guy. I'm the customer service rep here. I'm supposed to look at the customers. Plus, I thought you said you were fine with us just being friends?"

His voice changed from anger to hurt. "It wasn't my choice to break things off. I thought you said you needed a break? I thought you meant a break from all men, not just from me."

"Jeez, E.J. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry, okay?"

E.J. looked down at his shoes. "Yeah, okay. I'm sorry, too."

I grabbed a purple mouse from the wall and asked Jenny how much it was. She walked over to me and E.J. stayed back, moseying over to where Ranger and Edward were talking, but still keeping an eye on Jenny. She looked at it and said in a quiet tone, "if you get me a date with that Carlos guy, you can have it."

I was gritting my teeth now, but I think I did a respectable job turning it into a smile. "I'm pretty sure he's seeing someone, but I'll let him know you were asking."

She grinned, glancing over to Ranger, looking him up and down. "Thanks."

"So, tell me about the thing with the mailbox," I said to her.

"It's so weird, every day someone comes by and drops a little package into it. And it's not the mailman who's delivering it either. One day it was an old lady, the next it was a regular guy in a suit, then today it was a lady pushing a stroller. They all looked so normal.

"So anyway, the first day it happened I was with a customer, so I had to wait until I had them all taken care of before going to check it out. When the customer left, I went to the mailbox to check it and the package was gone. So I asked Ed and E.J. if they grabbed a package and they had no idea what I was talking about. It was so weird." Jenny was now working herself up into a respectable frenzy and spilling her guts out to me. I was able to walk her to the other end of the store, away from everyone else.

"Then the next day, the same thing happened. But Ed was on the phone and I was helping a lady pick out a laptop bag. So I asked the customer to hold on a sec and as I was about to open the door this guy runs by in head-to-toe black and opens the box and runs away. I couldn't see his face because he had on these enormous sunglasses and the hood of his sweatshirt was completely covering the rest of his head. Now it's been happening every day, the same guy keeps coming back, taking whatever it is out of the box. Thank Goodness E.J. is here, he said he wouldn't let anything happen to me." She smiled lovingly at E.J. and he smiled back.

"So Ed called RangeMan and they stepped up the security here. I hope they get to the bottom of it because Ed is getting up there in age and I don't want him having a heart attack over this."

"So, E.J. is Ed's son?" I asked.

"Yep, Edward Junior. He's a good guy. Very protective of me. We're taking a break from our relationship right now though."

I nodded. He was definitely protective.

Ranger walked over to us and placed his hand at the small of my back. "We're finished here."

Jenny reached out and gave me a business card. "Thanks again," she said to me, then winked at Ranger.

Oh boy.

I took the card and smiled. "Have a good day."

We didn't talk until he pulled the car away from the store.

"How'd it go?" I asked him.

"The information Ed McAllister gave me matched what we already had. He's fifty-eight and wants to retire to Florida with his wife, leaving the business to E.J. He wants to make sure everything is safe before turning it over to the kid. This is putting a crimp in the plans."

"Edward Junior," I said. "What does he do there?"

"He's the computer tech. Their only one."

I told him everything Jenny told me about their relationship and about the packages. I took her business card out of my purse. "The best part is that if I get her a date with you, I get a free computer mouse."

He slid a glance in my direction. "You'd trade me for a computer mouse?"

"It was purple."

"Babe."

I looked down at the card. Her last name was Marino. "Jenny Marino," I said to Ranger. "Where do I know that name from?" He offered nothing so I continued. "Maybe high school. She's a few years younger than me, but maybe that's where I know her from. Maybe she was a freshman when I was a senior." This was really going to bother me. I was trying to think if I knew anyone with the last name Marino, when my phone rang. Valerie.

"Hi, Val."

"Hey, are you busy? My car isn't starting and I need a jump or a ride home or something."

I looked at Ranger. "Where are you?" I asked Val.

"At Giovichinni's. They had a sale on blueberries and I needed to get a couple pints."

"I have to get my car, but then I can get you."

"Thanks, and hurry," she said and disconnected.

"Val's at Giovichinni's and her car isn't starting. Can you take me to Tank's so I can grab my car?"

Ranger took out his phone and called Tank. "Can you get Stephanie's car to Giovichinni's?" He closed his phone and looked at me. "I'll go with you, but if you try to trade me for olive loaf, we're going to have a problem."

.

We pulled next to Valerie's car. She was sitting on a bench in front of the market with a large box on her lap.

Ranger walked over to her and picked up the box. He smiled when he looked inside. He brought it over to the cars and I glanced inside.

"Valerie, there's like twenty pints of blueberries in here," I said to her.

"Thirty-six," she corrected me and pointed at Ranger. "He said if I felt like snacking I should eat blueberries because they're really good for me. So I looked on the computer and blueberries are called a Superfood. I figure if they're so super, I could snack on them all the time. Stan the produce guy inside said blueberry season was ending so I grabbed all they had. If I can't eat all of them I'll freeze the rest."

"You're going to turn the baby blue," I told her.

She paused for a few beats. "Are you serious? Can that happen?"

"No." At least I didn't think so.

While we were talking, Ranger took out jumper cables and attached them to both cars. He sat in Val's car and turned the key. It started.

"My hero," Val said to Ranger.

He removed the cables and brought them back to his truck. As he closed the trunk I heard a familiar rumble coming down the street. Pretty sure it was my car.

Yep, there it was. My tan Toyota. I wonder who at RangeMan pulled the short straw and was forced to drive it.

Ranger stood next to me with a big smile on his face. As the car got closer I realized the driver side was drooping a little and Tank was driving my car. He parked and not so gingerly wrenched his body out of the car and looked directly at Ranger. His blank face was in place. Even though Ranger didn't say anything, I could feel the vibrations of laughter as he tried to keep it together.

Ranger gave me a kiss. "I'll have to pay him extra for that, but it was worth every penny."

Tank sat in Ranger's car and closed the door. I waved to him and yelled, "Thank you!"

Tank nodded to me and Ranger got into his car. They waited until Valerie and I were in our cars and we all drove our separate ways.

.

I parked in front of the bonds office. Connie was inside painting her nails a deep, dark red.

"I have nothing for you," she said to me. "Except Anthony Marco. How did it go at his house?"

"We made a deal," I told her. "He's working on a project with work and said he'd come willingly when he's done."

"And you believed him?"

"He pinky swore."

"Oh, well, as long as he was serious."

I looked past Connie's desk toward Vinnie's closed office door. "Is he in?"

"No, he went to the courthouse to bond someone else out," she said. "I swear if it's another high bond that doesn't show up, we might as well just turn the office over to Ranger."

"Why all the high bonds?" I asked her.

"Lucille wants to renovate their house in Point Pleasant. So Vinnie figures the fastest way to get the money for it is to bail out the idiots with the highest bonds. Turns out they don't care about court dates just as much as the lower crime idiots."

I heard Vinnie's door open and he stood in the frame. "It's a good thing you're boffing Ranger. Maybe he'll be able to teach you a thing or two about fugitive apprehension."

"Jeez, what the hell are you doing here?" Connie said. "And by the way, you better not let Ranger hear you talking to her like that."

"I got back while you were on the can," Vinnie said to her. "And besides, you try living with Lucille. She doesn't like to wait. She got quotes on renovations and they're well into six figures. I need the money fast and Ranger delivers unlike my cousin, the Cosmo Kramer of bounty hunting. Why did I hire you?"

"Because I blackmailed you and I have a good skip return. Last time I checked I was at 93%."

"Well right now you're at zero percent. You have one skip to get, Stephanie! Anthony Marco is sitting on his ass at home and here you are, sitting on your ass gossiping with Connie. And where the hell is Lula?"

"I told you, she broke her ankle," Connie said to him.

"Oh yeah," a smile stretched across his face. "Six whole weeks of quiet."

"Think again," I told him. "She has a wheelchair and is planning on coming in tomorrow."

That knocked the smile off his face. "Shit." He slammed his door and we heard the locks clicking into place.

I was starting to feel a little tired. "I think I'm going to head home," I said to Connie. "I'll be in tomorrow. I don't want to miss Lula possibly rolling Vinnie over." I stood up and opened the door.

"I'll bring my camera," she said waving to me.

I walked into my apartment, turning the lights in the foyer on. My shoes came off and my jacket went onto the kitchen table. Rex stuck his head out of his soup can when he heard me and watched as I thumbed through my mail. There were nothing but bills. The art of letter writing was dead. That thought was just depressing enough to carry me to my bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I woke up from my nap to a dark apartment. Not surprising because it was the end of September and the days were getting shorter. I laid there for about a minute, willing myself to get up.

Finally, I talked myself into it. I got to a sitting position on the bed and could immediately feel the soreness in my thighs. I knew this wasn't going to be good. I counted to three and stood up. My calves, thighs, ass and lower abs were screaming in pain, or maybe I was. I thought about locking myself in my apartment tomorrow morning so I wouldn't have to exercise again, but everyone knew how to break in here; it would be wasted effort.

I was a little hungry and a peanut butter and olive sandwich sounded great right about now. I limped out of the bedroom and through the living room, turning on the lights on the way. As I passed the dining room table, where I keep my computer, I noticed the purple mouse from McAllister's plugged into the computer and sitting on my NY Ranger's mouse pad.

I hope that didn't mean Ranger was on a date with Jenny Marino.

I shifted the mouse and there was a post-it underneath.

_Babe -  
><em>_Working late.  
><em>_Dinner in fridge.  
><em>_STAY HERE, see you at 11.  
><em>_-R_

I wrinkled my eyebrow and cringed a little at the very large** STAY HERE**. I wasn't planning on going anywhere, especially with jelly legs, but my very stubborn side threatened to emerge and drive somewhere just to see what he would do.

I decided before I totally freaked out to check out the fridge and see what was going to replace my PB&O. I turned on the kitchen light and saw Rex snacking on a baby carrot. Ranger must have fed it to him. Rex's water was also refilled.

I opened the fridge and saw a styrofoam container inside. I opened it and inside was a Philly cheese steak and fries. I took a bite of the sandwich and moaned in delight. It was so good! I opened my phone and called him. He answered on the second ring.

"Yo."

"Where did you find a cheese steak this good in Trenton?"

"I didn't. Got it in Philly, Babe." I could hear a bit of amusement in his voice.

"That would explain it. What were you doing there?"

"One of our skips decided to take a vacation. Had to end it a little early for him."

"Thank you for the mouse. Did you pay with cash or bodily fluids?"

"Cash and I bought it from Ed McAllister."

"Good. I didn't want to leave my dinner here to find you and shoot you with your own gun."

I could sense his smile on the other end. "At least you'd have a gun with you."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you at eleven?"

"Yes. Try not to shoot me," and he disconnected.

I took a beer from the fridge and set it next to the styrofoam box. I then glanced around the kitchen for my workout chart. I figured it was better to know what kind of torture I was up against in the morning. The piece of paper was next to the toaster, folded over twice and had as much appeal as using tweezers on my bikini area. I reluctantly grabbed the paper, bringing it with my food into the living room.

I ate while watching a reality show about a cake baking competition. I grabbed a bag of Oreos for dessert to watch the judges crown the winner of the episode. Oreos weren't really going to cut it after watching this show, so I made a plan to pick up doughnuts on my way to work in the morning.

I still didn't open the workout schedule. I knew I didn't want to see what was inside of it, so I procrastinated a little while longer. I sent a text message to Lula, asking if she was still planning on showing up at the office tomorrow. She sent me a message back saying "hell2theYES" and followed by another one saying "Tank might think it was your idea."

I settled in and opened the sheet of paper. Tomorrow, Tank and Hal would be here. Tank was pretty easy on me today, but if Lula let him believe it was entirely my idea to drag her out of his home and back to work, he might not be so kind in the morning. The Tank section on the chart read we were doing high knees, long strides and back pedals. I had no idea what any of that meant and I'm sure once I found out I was going to wish I never knew. Hal's section just said 'catch'. What the hell did that even mean?

I thought of my sister. She was so excited to have help and they really were doing a great job with motivating her. I figured if Val could do this, so could I. Bring it on, Merry Men. Well, OK, maybe not _bring it on_; maybe _bring ice if I hurt myself_.

It was eleven o'clock on the dot when I heard my locks tumbling. Ranger walked in the doorway of the dining room with his arms up in mock surrender. I probably would've smiled, but instead it brought me back to when Scrog was in my apartment holding Ranger's daughter Julie and me captive. Ranger walked in the same way: slowly, arms raised, and wearing a strikingly identical outfit of black cargo pants and a black collared shirt with his long sleeves rolled up to the elbow. I involuntarily grimaced and bit my lip. He must have realized what I was thinking about because he dropped his arms and walked a little faster over to the couch where I was sitting. He kneeled down and gave me a hug.

"Shit, I'm sorry," I told him, hardly able to control the emotion I felt. A tear threatened to fall from my eye. "I know you were being funny, but I have a bad memory of almost losing you in that doorway."

"I didn't even think about that, Babe," he said, wiping away the tear as it fell down my cheek. "I'm sorry, too." He kissed my cheek where the tear fell and then my forehead. He pulled away from me and looked in my eyes. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm glad you're here."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be than right here with you."

He sat next to me and pulled my legs onto his lap. He rubbed my feet and worked his way up my calves and thighs. A moan escaped my lips and I tipped my head back. "I'm _really_ glad you're here," I told him.

He smiled. "If you came to train with me, I could do this every night."

"How about you just do this every night, no training required?"

"Babe, your signature move is kicking bad guys in the nuts. While it's gotten you out of some tough situations, you could do so much more. You're smart, perceptive and are very good at reading people. If you worked with me and my men full time, you'd be unstoppable."

I looked at him, trying to will a single eyebrow raise, but failed miserably when both of them shot up my forehead. "So basically, you want to kick my ass more than you're already planning to?"

"It wouldn't be just exercise and hand to hand combat training; it would be seriously training to do what we do. Lock picking, practicing invisibility, intimidation techniques and how to properly use your gun or any gun you're given."

I sighed. He was probably right. I'd been bounty hunting for a few years now and there were days where I couldn't believe I was still reenacting the same stupid scenarios. There were only so many times I could forget to charge my stun gun before looking like a gigantic idiot and pissing off a potentially dangerous felon. "Let's see how this week goes and I'll let you know."

"You'll really think about it?" he asked me.

"Pinky swear," I told him, extending my pinky.

.

I woke up to the sounds of clicking and birds chirping. It was still dark and I could feel Ranger next to me. I opened my eyes and looked toward his side. He was sitting, back against a pillow on the headboard, typing away on a netbook computer.

"Isn't it a little early to be playing Minesweeper?" I mumbled to him.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said. "Cal just emailed me our surveillance footage of yesterday at McAllister's."

I sat up and leaned next to him. He was shirtless and the blanket was pulled to his waist. His hair was lying on his shoulders. He pulled a file up and played the video for me. The screen split into four sections, each showing the different angles of the store and surrounding area. We watched a woman pushing a stroller and looking nervous, putting the package into the mailbox. She dropped it in and walked quickly away.

"Did anyone interview her?" I asked him.

"Yeah, Brett was monitoring the area on foot and caught up with her. She didn't see how the package got to her house and when she opened it she read the usual letter of 'no one will get hurt if you take the enclosed package to the following address at this exact time'. She thought it was a prank at first, but then a photo of her husband and daughter fell out."

"Did she know the address was for McAllister's?" I asked.

"She's gone there before. It's well known in the neighborhood, so that's not too surprising. All of the people we interviewed knew of and have taken their computers to McAllister's."

We watched the video and exactly two minutes later the man in black came to the mailbox, took out the package and ran off. We saw Cal in the RangeMan SUV pull after him and then the video ended.

"Cal followed him, but he started cutting through alleys and he lost him. Today, I'm going to put a few more men on foot in the area. If they can relay information to one another when he cuts through back yards and alleys, we can hopefully catch the guy and get to the bottom of this."

"Today? You're not coming back to sleep?"

"You're not either, Babe. It's five thirty."

I groaned and slid down, pulling a pillow over my head. I felt him climb over me and grab my hand. He pulled me out of bed and pushed me in the direction of my closet.

While I was dressing in the clothes Ella gave me, Ranger showered. When he came out I hopped in to use the bathroom, wash my face, throw my hair into a ponytail and brush my teeth. He was fully dressed and in the kitchen when I came out.

I figured I had one last chance to get out of exercise. Ranger was standing near the fridge, drinking a bottle of water. I walked over to him, took the bottle of water from his hand and placed it on the counter.

"Babe?"

I took a page from his book of sexual assertiveness and pushed him up against the fridge, kissing him with everything I had. He grabbed my waist and pulled me as close to him as possible (with clothes on). I looked up at him and grinned. "How about we go back to the bedroom and continue this conversation?"

"You're not getting out of this that easily," he told me, "but I definitely want to finish the conversation later."

"Nope, now or never."

"Never?" he asked with a grin.

"Oh, don't be so cocky, I can resist your charm." Okay, so that was a big lie. Ranger was magic. I had a hard time resisting him even when he was not around.

We left my apartment, taking the stairs down to the parking lot. Valerie pulled into the lot the same time as Tank and Hal.

Ranger turned to me and tugged my ponytail. "Be careful today," he said. "I'm thinking the threat made on Sunday was an empty one, but I'd feel better if I knew you had a gun with you. You still have the one I gave you yesterday and it's loaded. Just in case."

"You're worrying about me," I said straightforwardly.

"I am."

"You love me."

"You love me, too. So please try to protect the most important person in my life."

The most important person? My heart felt like it expanded to maximum capacity. For being a man of few words, he certainly knew how to talk. I no longer cared about what time it was or the inevitable pain I was going to be subjected to in a few minutes.

"Okay," I said. "I'll take a gun with me."

Tank and Hal were standing with us by then and Valerie was on the phone, standing by her car.

"Her pom-pom scrunchies are on the bathroom counter. ON THE BATHROOM COUNTER!"

Ranger, Tank, and Hal all turned to face me with small grins on their faces, like I had an explanation for this. "She has four daughters," I said, shrugging.

Valerie then talked baby-talk to one of the kids or maybe her husband, and hung up. "Sorry," she said to us, "It's pajama day at school and Angie has these cute little hair bands to match her jammies." She looked at Tank and gave him a nudge in the arm with her elbow. Then she introduced herself to Hal and said hi to Ranger.

Ranger nodded to his men and Val, gave me a kiss and left to save the world.

"Okay, Ladies," Tank said, clapping his hands. "Let's take a trip."

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Down the street to the high school's track. And we're jogging there. Keep up."

Tank and Hal started running. Valerie looked at me, shrugged and took off. I sighed and started after them.

It was about half a mile from my building to the school. We ran into the parking lot, which was deserted, and stopped at the track. Valerie and I were breathing heavy; Tank and Hal were not phased.

"Now we're going to stretch just like yesterday," he said. We sat for about five minutes stretching our arms, legs, feet, shoulders and necks. Tank stood up and motioned to me to follow him. I waved to Val and Hal, and ran after Tank.

I caught up with him as he walked to the part of the track opposite to where we just were. "So, is Lula really coming to the office today?" I asked.

"Yes," Tank said looking straight ahead, "and I'm holding you personally responsible for her."

"Me? Seriously? Do you really think I went to your house yesterday and begged her to come back to work? Do you really think that I said 'Hey Lula, you look too comfortable here, come to the office to sit all day on a shitty Naugahyde sofa that's falling apart, or even better, a RangeMan wheelchair! Come spend quality time with Vinnie, you look like you haven't had your fair share of pervert in a while.' Do you really think I can control whatever she does? How can you hold me responsible for this?" I realized I was yelling. Yelling at Tank! And that Hal and Val stopped doing pushups to watch us. I cleared my throat. "Sorry. The best I can do would be calling you if she needs anything or tries to do anything stupid."

He looked a little incredulous, but nodded in agreement.

"Okie dokie," I said. "Glad we cleared that up."

"Okay," he said, stopping on a big number one on the track. "Did you read the schedule for today?"

"Yep. High Knees, Long Strides and Back Pedals."

"Do you know what any of those are?"

"Nope."

I think I saw a little sigh escape and his shoulders hunch a fraction of an inch.

"You are getting compensated for this, right?" I asked.

"It's counting toward our gym time. I could use a week off."

I could imagine. Ranger was no nonsense when it came to training with his team. They ate right while they were at work, they had physical fitness tests constantly, and I heard rumors that if something or someone annoyed Ranger, he'd take to the mats with his person of choice.

Tank had me start walking the track with High Knees, which was just like walking except for bringing my knees to my chest with every step. He said that the whole thing we were doing was a three-step process and high knees were considered step one. I went around the entire track doing that, careful not to step on Valerie while she was doing sit ups. Hal was holding her legs down and she was grunting and practically foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal.

I made it back to Tank for Step Two: Long Strides.

"Keep doing High Knees," he said, walking next to me, "but this time I want you to reach your toes out as far as you can with every step. Right. Knee to chest, extend your leg through your toe and step. Good job."

He walked with me around the track this time. It was probably a good thing he did, too, because my feet stumbled a couple of times and if he wasn't there to catch me, I would've been even sorer tomorrow.

We made it back to the number one on the ground and Tank smiled. "This is the fun part. Back Pedals."

Oh boy.

He started running backwards. "Use your heels and reach outward in a kicking motion. Follow what I do."

I grimaced, "Just tell me if I'm about to run over Hal or my sister, okay?"

I followed Tank around the track backwards. He would occasionally tell me a direction to go, so I didn't run into anything or anyone. Valerie was doing a jump-lunge combination with Hal. I was busy paying attention to them when my back slammed into Tank.

"Oops! Sorry!"

He chuckled and rubbed his bald head. "Now we do it all over again."

I sighed and started again with the High Knees. I was running backward when I noticed that Hal, Tank and Val were waiting for me. I ran to them and looked at Val. "Is it buddy switching time?"

"Yep," she looked at Hal. "Be kind to my sister. I'm sure if she could have avoided it, you wouldn't have had to drive the car full of monkeys."

Hal grinned and blushed a little. "She'll be fine."

Tank and Valerie started power walking on the track, leaving me with Hal.

"So, you told her about the monkeys?" I asked him.

"She told me about the thing with Cal in the hospital, when her, uh, water broke all over him," he said, full on blushing this time.

"Oh my God, why did she bring that up?"

"For some reason, she was afraid she was going to hurt me. I told her that I'm used to being assaulted by her sister."

I had a feeling he was talking about my stunning him with his own gun in the RangeMan stairwell. "Hal, you were blocking my way to her bridal shower! I had to stun you!"

"With my own gun?" he said, shaking his head. "They have that recorded at work."

"Yikes. Is it too late to say I'm sorry?"

He reached into his pocket. "Did you see what we were doing today?"

"Catch?"

"Yeah. It's kind of like catch." He pulled out a stun gun from his pocket and I saw the green light turn on."

"What is that for?" I said, my voice raising several octaves higher. "Shut up, Hal. You're not seriously going to try to stun me, are you?"

"Not if I can't _catch_ you," he said.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. No." I looked over to the part of track where Tank and Val were jogging. "TANK!" I screamed.

Tank caught my eye and smiled. Valerie yelled, "He won't hurt you!"

Hal wiped sweat from his forehead with his arm. "Sorry, Ranger said it was okay."

Suddenly, rage filled every pore in my body. I slowly turned to Hal. "Give. Me. Your. Phone."

He took it from his pocket and tossed it to me. I dialed Ranger.

"Yo."

"Did you tell Hal he could stun me?"

"Do you want to be stunned?"

"NO!"

"Well, then run for it, Babe."

"What the," disconnect, "HELL!" I flipped the phone closed and glared at Hal. "Do you like this phone?"

"It's my work phone. I like it."

"I will shatter this into a million pieces if you don't put the stun gun down."

"Oh geez," he said. "I wasn't really going to stun you. It was kind of like a sprinting test, you know? Look," he said, holding the gun to his arm, "it's a fake."

I flipped Hal's phone open again and called Ranger again.

"Yo."

"This is war."

"Hal told you it was a fake, didn't he?"

"You're all going to feel my wrath. A wild lion attack will look like a day in the mall compared to what's going to happen to all of you!" That was most likely an empty threat and I was relieved it wasn't a real stun gun, but I was still pissed the idea was even out there. Who does something like that? "So much for wanting to protect the most important person in your life!" I yelled as I hung up on Ranger.

I threw Hal's phone back to him, turned tail and huffed out of there. I heard someone walking behind me, so I started running. I made it all the way home and collapsed on the grass. Hal sat next to me.

"I'm sorry," he said. Tank and Valerie were right behind him. "If it makes you feel better, you ran. That was kind of the desired effect."

"You could've just said, hey! Let's run! I would've done it. You didn't have to scare the bejeezus out of me." I could feel tears forming. I thought, hey, roll with it, make him feel terrible. I blinked a few times and the tears started falling. I was milking this for all it was worth. In the back of my mind I knew he would never hurt me.

Hal squinted his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Please don't cry, Steph. I hate it when women cry."

Just then, a blue and white pulled in. I recognized the driver immediately. Carl Costanza. I'd made Communion with him, among other things. Carl was one of my favorite cops, but what was he doing here? We all had the same bewildered expression on our faces, watching Carl get out of his car.

"I should have known," Carl said, resting his hands on his hips. "We got a call that a young woman was being chased by a large man in black."

I sighed. I knew my mother would be calling within the next couple of hours.

Costanza tried to hold back his amusement. "Look, Valerie's here," he said. "What are you doing hanging out with this motley crew?"

"Hi, Carl," Val said. "I'm sure you know Tank and Hal. They're showing me how to exercise."

Carl smiled and nodded to Tank and Hal. "Did you two draw the short straws, or piss off Mañoso?"

Neither of them spoke. They were watching Costanza with their blank faces in place.

"It could be worse," Costanza grinned. "When I usually respond to a call about Stephanie, she's either blown something up or found a dead body. Sometimes both at once."

"Hey, it's never my fault," I said defensively.

"Have you been crying?" he asked, squinting toward me.

"No. I just hate running."

"Well, the guys at the station will be disappointed to hear this wasn't anything interesting," Carl said. He glanced back at my sister. "Looking good, Val." And he got back into his car and left.

"Hey, only two days of exercise and someone thinks I look good!" Valerie said. "It's been a long time since I heard that."

"You do look good," I told her. "You carry yourself well, you're pretty and you're strong. You can't let something like how much you weigh make you think otherwise."

She grinned. "You're right. I want to look good, but I also want to feel good. I'm hoping after a few weeks of exercising on my own I'll get back to my old self. Saint Valerie."

"We're going to take off," Tank said. "I'm bringing Lula to the office at nine."

"I'll be there," I told him. "Oh, and if you see Ranger, remind him of the lions."

Valerie sat next to me on the grass. "Are you really upset?"

I sighed. "Not really. How long did you know of that plan?"

"He told me about it when he was holding my feet during my sit ups. He also kind of told me something else."

"What?"

"You're playing catch again on Thursday or Friday. I'm not saying you should attack the poor guy, but maybe actually bring your stun gun. Scare him a bit."

That wasn't a bad idea. "I like it. Oh, by the way, did you really ask Ranger what his intentions were?"

"I'll tell you about that another time, I gotta go." Val said. "I'm dropping the babies off this morning with Mom and Grandma so I can relax a bit. Do you think if I came to visit you at work it would be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Vinnie would love to see you."

She laughed. "I don't quack."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I was on my way to the bonds office. I had doughnuts, bagels, a few breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. It was fifteen minutes until Lula was scheduled to arrive and Connie would just be starting the computer. I walked through the door and sat with Connie laying the food bags on her desk. She peeked through the bags, selecting a bagel with cream cheese. I grabbed a doughnut and we sat watching the front door.

"Did you exercise this morning?" she asked me.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Uh oh. Tell me."

I sighed. "Hal, and whoever the hell else at RangeMan, decided the best way to motivate me to sprint would be chasing me with a stun gun."

"What!" Connie gasped.

"It was a fake, but still..."

"I'd be fucking pissed. Did you call Ranger? This wasn't his idea was it?"

"I called him. He knew about it."

Connie took a bite of her bagel. "So what's the plan?"

"What plan?"

"The plan to get him back."

I didn't know if I wanted to get them back right away. I was better with keeping grudges in my emotional arsenal and when an opportunity to get revenge presented itself, I struck back. "I'm still thinking of a plan," I told her.

"Okay, let me know if you need me."

I grabbed coffee for us from the pot Connie started when she came in. "It's almost nine; Lula should be here any minute."

I was curious to see exactly how Lula planned on working. She was supposed to stay off her feet, or at least not put any weight on her right ankle. She was also on painkillers, so it boded to be an interesting day. I wasn't sure if she was serious about the wheelchair and I didn't have to speculate any longer because Tank's SUV double parked in front of the office.

Connie and I were watching from her desk, drinking our coffee. Tank got out of the SUV and walked over to the passenger side where Lula was waiting. Opening Lula's door and the door behind her, he pulled out a wheelchair and set it up. Then he effortlessly lifted her from her seat and placed her in the chair. He moved her to the sidewalk and went back to close the car doors.

Tank maneuvered her chair and opened the door. He held it with his foot and angled her into the office.

"Have no fear, Lula's here," she announced.

Connie grinned. "Vinnie's not here yet, but can you please say that when he comes in?"

Lula rolled herself over to Connie's desk and peeked through the bags. I glanced at Tank and he crooked his head, gesturing to me to come talk to him. I stood up and walked over to the doorway.

"She's in your hands now," he said. "Call me if she needs anything."

"Okay, will do."

He walked over to Lula. "I'll be here at three to get you. You know how to reach me if you need anything."

"Okay, Boo," she told him. "I have everything I need in my purse, when you pick me up I might need something else if you catch my drift, so rest up."

Tank gave a full on smile and left.

"So, are you really working today," Connie said. "I have a ton of files that need to be put away."

"Sure, I can file your ass off. I have this here wheelchair, so I can put them all on my lap and drive around here putting it all away."

"Works for me," Connie said, handing Lula a breakfast sandwich.

"Mmm, I missed being here." Lula said.

"Technically, you only took Saturday morning and Monday off," I told her.

"I know, but when you're confined to a couch, it makes you miss everything," Lula said. "Which reminds me, who do we gotta catch? When are we going to kick some ass?"

"We're not. You have to stay in that chair and keep busy here," because Tank would literally kill me. "Besides, Connie doesn't have any skips for me."

"Well, actually," Connie started to say. I cut her a look and she fumbled her words. "Oh, um, actually, the one I was thinking of was for RangeMan. The only case you have is Anthony Marco."

"Yeah, and he's coming with me on Friday."

"Well, hell. What are we supposed to do all day?" Lula asked.

"What is so different now compared to what you normally do?" Connie asked Lula. "You're sitting, eating breakfast, talking to us and no filing is being done. You find a way to make it through the day when you're not broken, you'll find a way now."

"Sheesh," Lula said. "You know what you need? You need to get some, because if you keep all that sexual frustration locked away, it comes out as another kind of frustration and you start frightening people. I'm not frustrated at all, if you didn't notice."

"You're taking a happy pill, that's why you're not frustrated," Connie said.

"I have me a big, strong man who knows how to work around a broken ankle. Stephanie knows."

My eyes bulged out. "Whoa, what do I know?"

"You have a big, strong man and I'm sure he's taking care of all of your frustrations. I think we should set Connie up with one of the boys at RangeMan."

I raised my eyebrows, considering the idea. "It's not such a bad idea."

"Hell-o," Connie said. "I'm right here and I don't need a man."

Lula grunted. I decided to stay out of it for now.

A while later, Vinnie entered through the back door of the office. He came out as Lula was filing and made a comment about her being at "b.j. level" in her chair.

"Oh no, you didn't," Lula said. She ripped at the wheel of her chair and rolled over Vinnie's foot, and then punched him in the balls as hard as she could.

Vinnie grabbed his groin and immediately went into a coughing fit, bending at the waist, face turning to a deep purple color. He somehow managed to get himself to his office and locked the door.

We all smiled.

"That felt great," said Lula.

"I feel much better now," Connie said. "See, I don't need sex to relieve tension, I just need to see a pervert getting punched in the balls."

"You still need sex," Lula told her.

Connie sighed. "Maybe."

I was starting to get a little restless sitting around the office. I was going through Lula's iPod, looking for songs I actually knew, when Valerie walked in. She sat in the chair next to me and looked ultra relaxed.

"Wow, Val," Connie said. "You look great."

"I bet she just got lucky," Lula commented, wheeling herself closer to Connie's desk.

"Thanks," Val said. "Actually, I think it's the exercise. I'm really motivated this time around." She grinned, "Okay, maybe sex has a little to do with it."

"See?" Lula said, looking at Connie. Connie rolled her eyes.

"So, it's going well?" Connie asked Valerie.

"Yeah, it was so nice of Ranger, Tank and Hal to help me. Well, us," she said looking at me. "I am worried about what's going to happen when my week is up, ya know? Like, I don't know how to keep the motivation going. It's nice to have a partner while running, it kind of keeps your mind off the pain part."

"Girl, you just need some good motivational music to listen to while running," Lula told her.

"What would you know about that?" Connie asked. "You don't run."

"You're damn right, I don't run. However, I do exert myself in other ways and having a good song to get your booty movin' is something I can help y'all with." Lula grabbed her iPod out of my hand and started looking for a song. "Listen and learn, ladies," she said turning the volume all the way up so we could all hear the music blasting out of her headphones.

_I wanna, li-li-li-lick you from your head to your toes  
>And I wanna, move from the bed down to the - down to the - to the floor<br>Then I wanna, ah ah - you make it so good I don't wanna leave  
>But I gotta, kn-kn-kn-know what-what's your fan-ta-ta-sy<em>

I could feel my eyes glazing over, picturing a lot of what this guy was rapping about. I glanced at the girls and could tell they were doing the same thing.

_I wanna get you in the back seat windows up  
>That's the way you like to fuck, clogged up fog alert<br>Rip the pants and rip the shirt, rough sex make it hurt  
>In the garden all in the dirt<br>Roll around Georgia Brown that's the way I like it twerk  
>Legs jerk, overworked, underpaid but don't be afraid<br>In the sun or up in the shade  
>On the top of my escalade<br>Maybe your girl and my friend can trade; tag team, off the ropes  
>On the ocean or in the boat; factories or on hundred spokes<br>What about up in the candy store, that chocolate chocolate make it melt  
>Whips and chains, handcuffs, smack a little booty up with my belt<br>Scream help play my game; Dracula man I'll get my fangs  
>Horseback and I'll get my reins, school teacher let me get my grades<em>

The chorus repeated itself a few more times and I was in a dreamy, yet suddenly frustrated place.

"Wow," Val said. "I usually just listen to easy rock or country. This is something I could get into. It's full of good suggestions."

"Definitely motivational," Connie agreed.

"Yeah, I'd run to this," Val said. "I need this song, Lula."

"It's What's Your Fantasy by Ludacris. I got the CD. I'll give it to Tank to bring to you."

I saw Connie's head jerk up, looking toward the back entrance. I felt a familiar tingle at the back of my neck and knew Ranger was there. How long he'd been there was yet to be known.

I turned around and made eye contact with him. I had to remind myself I was supposed to be angry about the stun gun incident and ignore the fact that I wanted to act on the "back seat windows up" part of Lula's song. The edges of his lips curled up slightly like he was trying to hold back a smile. He walked to the desk, dropping a huge stack of files in front of Connie.

"Ladies," he said to us.

"Are these all of your skips?" Connie asked him.

"Yes. You can make the check out to RangeMan," he told her.

"I'm going to have to get my calculator for this one," Connie said, reaching into a drawer.

Ranger put his hand on my shoulder, "I need to talk to you."

"I'm kind of busy," I told him.

He tightened his grip on my shoulder and pulled me up. "This won't take long." He led me out of the office and into the alleyway between the bonds office and bookstore.

I crossed my arms and looked at him. "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to know exactly what you were thinking of," he said, kissing me.

I let a moan out and pulled away. "No, I'm still mad at you."

"I know, Babe. I'm waiting for the lion attack."

"Well, you can't just come here smelling great and looking sexy, right after I listened to that song. It's not fair. Give me a couple minutes to work up my anger."

I was standing against the wall and he pressed his body into mine. "I can help you get worked up, but I don't think the emotion you'd feel afterward would be anger."

If he didn't have his leg between mine, I would've fallen to the ground.

He smiled. "You want me bad."

YES! "No."

The smile widened. He kissed me again and looked into my eyes. "I wasn't kidding this morning about being careful. Did you bring your gun?"

Oops, "I forgot."

"Babe." He reached behind his back and pulled out my gun. "I picked it up at your apartment. It's loaded. Please keep it with you."

I took the gun and put it in my jacket pocket. "I can't believe you were going to let Hal stun gun me."

"It was a fake."

"So? You're lucky I didn't use my so called signature move on him."

"We thought maybe you'd run from him when he pulled the tazer out. Hal is a decent judge of speed and endurance and was hoping to get a good estimation on where you are. He didn't get to see you sprint, but he thought you did a great job running home. He said you were steady and he thinks the extra boost of anger toward him..."

"And you," I cut in.

"And me," he said, raising his eyebrows slightly, "kicked up your adrenaline level. He was proud of you, Babe. I'm proud of you, too." He kissed my forehead and put his hand on the small of my back, leading me back toward the office.

We walked back in and Connie, Lula and Val were huddled around Lula's iPod once again. I knew the song this time, 2 Live Crew's Me So Horny. I cleared my throat and their heads jerked up to look at us. Lula turned it down and looked at Ranger. "You didn't try to stun her again, did you?"

He smiled. "Not with a stun gun."

I blushed. Connie and Lula fanned themselves and Valerie covered her ears. It was the Trenton version of the hear/speak/see no evil monkeys.

Connie picked up a check on her desk. "This is for RangeMan. More than what we all make in a year combined."

Lula glanced at the check before Ranger took it from Connie. "You know what they say about engagement rings," she said to Ranger. "You should spend the equivalent of two months' salary. That would be one huge ass rock."

My eyes nearly flew out of their sockets. I was not about to discuss marriage right now. I didn't know how he felt about it. I didn't even know how I felt about it! We'd both tried it before and didn't have very good experiences with the whole thing. Where we were currently was a place I liked.

He folded the check and put it in his pocket. "This goes to the company, not just me." He looked at Lula, "but I'll keep that in mind."

He gave me a kiss and told me he'd call me later. He then left through the back door. I was staring at Lula with a shocked look on my face.

"What?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I have no words."

"I do," Lula said. "Woohoo. Yippee. Fuck yeah!"

"You'd make some gorgeous babies," Valerie said.

"I'm not talking about this right now!" I had an unusual urge to find wood to knock on because I didn't want to jinx anything between us. I moved behind the desk to a wooden file cabinet and nonchalantly tapped it with my knuckle. I needed to change the conversation. "What's going on for lunch?"

"I'm eating at Mom and Dad's," Val said.

"I'm getting pizza," Connie said. She looked at Lula, "You in?"

"Yep, I could go for some pizza," Lula said.

I looked at Val. "I'll go with you to Mom's house."

Around eleven, Val and I left the office and went back to our parents' house. I called ahead letting my mother know I was coming back with Val. She had just gone to Giovichinni's and stocked up on lunch meat, so she was well prepared for the daughterly invasion.

I pulled my car in front of the house, right behind Val. Grandma Mazur and Mom were waiting with the babies at the door.

"By the way," Val said to me as we walked up together, "I told them about the whole thing with Carl Costanza this morning; they won't say anything about it."

"Thank goodness you're here," Grandma said to Val. "This one just had her last bottle about two hours ago and she was not happy about it. She kept squeezing her little fists together and looking around for you."

"I taught her that. It means milk or probably she thinks it means boobs," Val said. "It's baby sign language."

"Ain't that a pip," Grandma said. "This is the only sign language I know," and she flipped us all the bird.

Valerie grabbed baby Hannah and sat down on the couch to breastfeed. I hung up my jacket and purse in the hallway. My mother handed me Lisa and went to the kitchen to get the food out of the fridge. Lisa's hair was in a cute little ponytail at the top of her head. She rested her hands on my cheeks, looked into my eyes and said, "Feffie. Feffie."

"Val, what does 'Feffie' mean?"

"I'm thinking she's saying your name." She looked at Lisa. "Where's Aunt Stephanie?"

Lisa grabbed my cheeks again and said "Feffie! Feffie!" My heart melted. There was something about this baby with her brown hair and dark brown eyes that made my biological clock start ticking every time I looked at her. I took her hand from my cheek and kissed it.

I adjusted Lisa so she was sitting on my hip and walked into the kitchen with her. My mother was laying the lunch meat on a platter and Grandma Mazur was taking condiments out of the fridge.

"Where's Dad?" I asked.

"He's out with the cab," Grandma said. "You just missed him by about ten minutes."

"Oh, this is like the third time in a row I've been here and he wasn't around."

"Well, you can come to dinner tomorrow," Mom said. "Ranger can come, too." She looked out to the living room and asked Valerie if she, Albert, and the girls would come to dinner tomorrow night as well. Valerie accepted.

"Mom, that's nine regular chairs and two high chairs. Can you fit that at the table?"

"Of course I can. Call Ranger now and ask him."

"He's working. I'll ask him later tonight."

"Okay, just let me know as soon as possible if you're coming. I'll borrow some of Mabel's chairs." Mabel's house shared a common wall with my parents'. She lived alone, so borrowing a few chairs wouldn't be too much of a burden for a Wednesday night dinner.

We sat down for lunch of sandwiches, salad and leftover homemade mac and cheese for Lisa. The baby was sleeping in a playpen in the living room.

"There's going to be a beaut' of a viewing tonight," Grandma said. "Gary Florintino's being laid out. Young guy, only seventy-nine. Died in his sleep so they hardly had to fix him up at all. Elaine Barkolowski is taking me, but if anyone wants to go she has a big ol' Cadillac that can fit a small army."

"That's nice of you to offer," I told her, "but I have to get to sleep early."

"Yeah, we've been exercising at six every morning," Val said.

"Oh that's right," Grandma said. "Are those RangeMan hunks helping you?"

"Yeah, they're really helpful," Val told her.

"You should take photos next time. I wouldn't mind seeing them all sweaty." Grandma got up and left the dining table. "I'll be right back."

"She's probably going to get her camera." I started helping my mother clear the table when we heard Grandma talking. "Who is she talking to?" I asked my mom.

"I don't know, maybe you should go check."

I walked out into the foyer and saw Grandma on my phone. "Hold on, dear," she said to the person on the other end. She looked at me, "It was buzzing, so I answered it."

"Who is it?" I asked. She held up a finger, signaling me to hold on.

"Ok, hot stuff, I'm back. Stephanie's mother was wondering if you'd like to come to dinner tomorrow. It's been a while since we had someone sexy at the table."

Ranger. Of course she had to answer when he called. I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and pointer finger. "Can I have the phone, please?"

"Think about it, handsome. My granddaughter would like to speak to you." She handed the phone to me.

"H-h-hi…"

"Was that the lion attack?" he asked.

I wasn't planning on getting back that way, but I have to admit, it was pretty good. "Sorry, no. What's going on?"

"I was calling to see if you wanted to do some background checks for RangeMan later today and then go to dinner with me."

I did need the money. "Sure. Are you going to come to dinner with me tomorrow?"

"As long as you keep your grandmother away from me," he said.

"You need me to be your body guard. I get it."

"More than you will ever know. What's on the schedule the next few hours?"

"Gotta run some errands, my fridge is looking a little depressed."

"Sounds good. Come to my office when you get here and I'll give you what you need," he paused for a second. "And then I'll give you your assignment."

I blushed and gave a nervous chuckle. "I'll see you later."

I told my mom Ranger and I would be coming to dinner tomorrow and left shortly after. I got in my car and started off to the grocery store.

I went to Shop Rite in Hamilton Township. Usually I went to the Super-Fresh right near my apartment, but I knew Shop Rite was having a sale on some of the things I needed. If I could save an extra fifty cents on Tastykakes, I'd drive the extra bit to get there.

I left Shop Rite with the things I needed to get me through the week. Tastykakes, peanut butter, Wonder Bread, a can of coffee, green olives, microwave meals, milk, and baby carrots for Rex.

On my way home, I found myself passing McAllister's Computer Repair Shop. I wondered if Jenny Marino was working. It was still bothering me that I knew her name from somewhere, but couldn't put my finger on it. I looped around the block and parked about fifty feet from the storefront.

I grabbed my phone to call Connie. Connie had computer programs that could find information on anybody from date of birth to when a girl started her first period. Hopefully with her help I'd be able to figure out how I knew Jenny. I didn't know why I cared so much, but it felt important to find out.

"Vincent Plum Bail Bonds," Connie answered.

"Hey, it's Stephanie. I was wondering if you could do a search on Jenny Marino for me. I'll come pick it up in about an hour?"

"Sure," she said, "but why do you need it? I thought Anthony Marco said he'd come with you on Friday?"

"Anthony Marco? Is my cell reception cutting out? I need Jenny Marino."

"Steph. I heard you. Jenny Marino was the one who pressed charges against Marco. She's the ex-girlfriend. She's the one with the slashed tires."

Holy cow. "Look both of them up and I'll call you back." I closed my phone and took a notepad and pen out of my purse. Something felt weird and my mind was racing with a ton of possibilities that I had to write down.

Anthony Marco used to date Jenny Marino. He was arrested a little over two weeks ago for stabbing her tires when he found out she'd cheated on him. When Ranger and I went to McAllister's for the first time Jenny told me that she and E.J. were taking a break from their relationship. Maybe she cheated on Anthony with E.J., and after the tire thing she freaked out and called everything off?

The guy that was picking up the packages at McAllister's was tall and thin and was a seemingly good runner. He was able to run from Cal in a RangeMan SUV and apparently knew the neighborhood well. If it was Anthony Marco, he'd fit the description. I assume he'd know the area if he ever visited Jenny at work, so taking shortcuts through back yards and alleys would be easy to navigate.

On Friday, when I first knocked on Anthony's door, he said he was just about to head out. It was midafternoon when the package was picked up at McAllister's. Right around the time he escaped out of his bathroom window from me and Lula. I wished I saw what he was wearing when he escaped. When I chased him down Hamilton he was wearing running shorts and a t-shirt. He wasn't carrying a package either. Maybe he went somewhere after the pick-up to change and drop off whatever was in the package. Maybe he just went back to his house, but he could have altered his behavior that day when he thought I was waiting to take him in.

I made a note to check out properties he owned, as well as family members' homes he may have in the area between his house and the repair shop.

Thinking back to his house, I didn't recall anything out of the ordinary. Normal furniture, normal workspace, normal decorations on the blue walls.

OMIGOD!

The picture of me in front of the blue wall was taken inside his house! Which makes it possible that the photo of me and Lula in my car could have been taken from his house? If he worked with computers, he might also know a few things about surveillance. What if he was the one who sent the photos of me in the package to Ranger? The note left in the package called me a bounty hunter specifically. He would obviously know that because I gave him my card.

My only question was WHY? This seemed a little over the top for a scorned lover's revenge. Not to mention the inevitable ass kicking he was going to get from Ranger when he was caught.

I jotted all of this down and at the bottom of the page I wrote "pinky swear" and circled it. He was kind of endearing on the phone with me, giving me his verbal pinky promise. While there was hardly any doubt in my mind that Anthony Marco was the man in black, it didn't seem right. He didn't seem like a blackmailer, going to homes of various people, threatening harm to their loved ones if they didn't do exactly what the note said. Was there a second person involved?

My notepad was out of room and I had a dull headache. I shoved it back into my purse and thought it was time to have a chat with Jenny Marino.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

I pushed open the door to McAllister's and looked for Jenny. I didn't see her, but figure she could have been in the back. I walked to the customer service desk and dinged the bell. I was expecting Jenny to come through the back door, but instead I was greeted by E.J.

"Hi, Stephanie Plum," he said smiling, leaning against the desk.

"Hi. I'm surprised you remembered my name." Because I never told it to you!

"I never forget a face," he said. "Plus, I Googled you when you left here yesterday."

"You Googled me?" I asked. "Should I be flattered or freaked out?"

He laughed and leaned a little closer to me. "I just wanted to know a little more about you. I came across some interesting news articles that concerned you."

I sighed a little over-dramatically so I'd be able to take a step back without looking entirely freaked out by his closing in on my personal space. "Whatever you read, it wasn't my fault."

"So, you didn't set fire to the funeral home, nor were you a person of interest in the disappearance of your ex-husband?"

"No, and kind of, but he was never missing."

He grinned. "So, are you seeing that Carlos guy?"

I thought that was an odd jump in topics. "We work together. I was actually hoping to talk to Jenny. Is she in?"

His eyes narrowed slightly and he shook his head. "No, but maybe I can help you." I had my hand on the counter and he placed his on top of mine. A shudder ran down my spine.

"What can you tell me about Anthony Marco?" I asked him, removing my hand.

He rolled his eyes and gave a bark of laughter. "Just that he's a whack job."

"Why is that?"

"He holds some scary grudges." He pulled his cell phone out and pressed a few buttons. "This is a voicemail he sent me."

He put the phone on speaker and we listened. Anthony Marco's very angry voice came on and he was slurring his words.

"You know what your problem is, Ed? You can't keep your fucking hands to yourself. I thought I could trust her working there with you. You know what I go through to train like this. I thought you'd understand, instead you're fucking fucking my fucking girl! Sleep with one eye open, ass hole!"

"Wow," I said. "He definitely wasn't sober for that one."

"Yeah, well he's a runner."

"What do you mean?"

"Runners tend to be bigger beer drinkers. After running a marathon you need carbohydrates and you need liquids and what better way than beer?"

I remembered he did have a lot of beer cans in his house. "How do you know so much about it?"

"I used to be a runner. I had a nasty accident not too long ago. I blacked out while running and blew out my knee."

"Wow, sorry about that. How long did he and Jenny date?" Okay, so I'm not a master of smooth topic transitions.

"I don't know, a while I guess. She got bored with him always working or training, so I helped pick up the slack in the boyfriend department. He found out and frickin' stabbed all of her car tires with knives."

"Yeah, I heard that. He failed to appear for his court date and I'm assigned to bring him in."

"Figures. Do you think he's dangerous? Should I be protecting Jenny?"

"I don't know. What can you tell me about the guy who's been picking up those packages?"

"I knew it. You think it's Anthony picking up the packages, don't you?"

"What? No." I don't know why I felt the need to lie. Maybe because I should run all of this by Ranger before anyone else. "I have two jobs. I'm an apprehension agent for Vincent Plum and I also work for RangeMan. For some reason your store is involved with both of my jobs, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone. Do _you_ think Anthony Marco would be tied in with all of this?"

He thought about it for a few seconds, "I don't know," he finally said.

"Okie doke, well, thank you for your time, E.J." I told him. "If I have any other questions I'll give you a call."

"You don't have to leave yet," he said. "We only talked business. What about pleasure?"

Oh boy.

"Sorry, I have milk in the car and need to get it into my fridge."

"Okay, well don't hesitate to call," he said. "I don't just service computers."

I waved goodbye and as soon as I left the building I felt the urge to shower for the next three days.

I looked up and down the street and noticed a couple of Ranger's men walking in the area. I suppose they were undercover as they were not wearing the normal RangeMan black uniform. Lester was on the opposite side of the street from me, he was wearing blue jeans and a white long-sleeved t-shirt. It was a great look for him. We made eye contact and he sent me a very confused look. He probably wasn't expecting to see me there. I gave him a little wave and went to my car.

When I was in my car I called Ranger. No answer. "Call me!" I left on his voice mail. I looked in Anthony Marco's file and found Jenny's phone number. No answer for her either. I decided I'd call Anthony Marco's house, but again, no one picked up.

I had to get home to put my groceries away, then I'd check up on Lula and Connie and eventually head to RangeMan. I put my car into gear and waited for a break in traffic. The light turned red and the cars lined up. I was still stuck in my parking space, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel.

I looked in my rear view mirror and watched a teenage girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, walk down the street.

She was holding a package.

She didn't look too worried. She actually looked annoyed and inconvenienced and she chewed her gum like a horse. I looked around and saw Cal zero in on her. He'd probably talk to her after she made the drop off. I decided to drive through the neighborhood. If the guy in black was going to run through here, maybe I could help cut him off. I felt my jacket and the gun Ranger gave me was there. This is good, I thought. I could help.

I merged into traffic and cut down the closest side street. I pulled to the side again and called Lester.

"Hey, Steph."

"Hey, where did Cal lose the guy in black yesterday?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? He cut down a narrow alley, which one was it?"

"Uhm," Lester was hesitating. "I don't think I should tell you. I don't think Ranger would want you involved."

"Lester, that girl just dropped off the package less than a minute ago, if you guys intervene with the guy, he threatened to hurt me. If I go after him, what's he going to do?"

"I don't know? Hurt you now instead of trying later? I'm sorry, Steph, you should go home," he said to me, a note of annoyance in his voice.

Go home? I knew there were slightly different instructions when I became involved on a take down. I knew that my safety became top priority and he probably didn't want me to screw anything up. I really liked Lester, but he was starting to push my buttons.

"Listen," I said to him, "I think I know the guy, he might be one of my skips. This is absolutely my business."

Lester groaned. "The alley between the homes at 47 and 49 Greene Street. You have a gun and a tracker in your purse just in case, right?"

"I do. Thanks." I hung up and put my car into gear, driving to the street on the other side of the alley. I noticed a RangeMan SUV and figured they had that area under control so I'd went to the next street over. I stepped out of the car, quietly listening for any disturbance in neighborhood noise. I heard the faint sound of dogs barking, and then a louder sound of an engine catching and tires peeling out. I assumed that was the RangeMan car. I continued waiting and heard the pounding of footsteps and a gun shot. The footsteps were becoming louder. I pulled out my gun and followed the sound.

The guy in black came tearing out of a driveway about four houses away from me. He was wildly looking behind him and surveying the neighborhood. I took off after him and figured if it was Anthony Marco, he'd react to my calling his name.

"Anthony!" I yelled as loud as I could.

He stumbled, but kept running. He glanced over his shoulder and saw me. With the black oversized hooded sweatshirt and huge sunglasses I couldn't exactly see his face, but the stumble was enough to convince me.

He was looking around at the houses and took a sharp left across the street and through another alley. When I turned in to follow him, I noticed at the end of the alley stood someone in a helmet and leather clothing. He was wearing a full face helmet so I wasn't able to see who it was. I thought it could be one of the Merry Men getting ready to pounce on Anthony.

Anthony kept running and went right past the mysterious person in leather. The guy in leather didn't even move his head toward Anthony, let alone try to stop him. I was staring at the helmet, trying my best to see the face of the person behind it. I looked at his hands, but they were covered by gloves. He wore black leather boots, nothing distinguishable about them.

I had a bad feeling and silently started to panic. Fight or flight, fight or flight, I kept asking myself.

I slowed down and decided on flight. I turned and heard a deep, muffled voice say, "Stop."

I froze.

He came up behind me and was holding a can of spray. I knew the can. I used this same stuff on Benito Ramirez a few years ago. Sure Guard. A chemical weapon that was outlawed here a while back. It worked on neurotransmitters and would knock you out cold. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Drop the gun."

Shit. I didn't even realize I still had it. I dropped it. Anthony Marco was long gone and I was being threatened by the freaking Terminator.

"Let me walk away," I said to him. "I don't know who you are or what you look like. I won't say anything.

"I don't believe that. I think you're going to go back to Mañoso and tell him. It would be better if you didn't remember any of this."

I knew this wasn't how Sure Guard worked. It doesn't erase minds, it just incapacitated the victim; knocking them out, causing temporary paralysis and a crazy hung-over feeling. I held my breath, but knew it was wasted effort. Sure Guard could seep in through my pores. I waited.

He yanked my hair and I let my breath out with a scream. "Stay the fuck out of this, Ms. Plum. Let your boyfriend know that next time I won't be so nice to you."

And then he sprayed me.

I felt myself fall to the ground, my world turning black.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I thought I was awake, though I couldn't see anything. My eyes were closed and as much as I tried I was unable to open them. I didn't feel terrible, but I had a feeling that was going to change as soon as I was able to move. Carefully I listened for a familiar sound so I could figure out where I was. No sounds of heart monitors, doctors being paged, or screaming. I wasn't in the hospital. No dogs barking or the sounds of cars, so I wasn't still in the alley. I couldn't hear anybody talking, maybe I was back in my apartment, but how did I get there? I thought about the milk in my car. I thought about Ranger and where he was. If I could just open my eyes I'd feel better about all of this. Although, if I opened them and I was in a psycho's basement chained to the wall, I'd wish I never opened them.

I decided to try to move my other body parts. I started small, trying to move a finger or toe. Nothing. I tried to talk. I tried to scream. I tried to whisper or at least alter my breathing. Nothing.

Then I heard a voice. I was almost positive it was Tank. "How is she?"

"I'm not sure. Bobby said she should be coming out of it soon," another person said.

"What happened?" Tank asked.

"Sure Guard happened. It was lying next to her on the ground in the alley."

"Fuck." Tank breathed on a sigh. "Have you heard from Ranger?"

"Last I heard he went to the scene. If it were me I'd be beating the shit out of every person who was in the area who let her be alone with that guy."

Tank grunted. Tank probably knew by now that it wasn't my style to take orders. Lester tried to stop me and I didn't listen.

I heard a door open then close. I heard the familiar sound of keys being dropped in a dish. I was in Ranger's apartment.

I felt Ranger's presence in the room. He made me feel warm and tingly. I felt pressure on my right hand and heard him whisper in my right ear. He was next to me, holding my hand.

"Open your eyes, Babe," he whispered.

I was trying, all I wanted was to see him and let him know I was fine. I focused on trying to squeeze his hand. I searched my brain, trying to remember what it felt like to move my hand. I held on to that feeling and kept trying to squeeze his.

I could still sense him next to me as he talked to Tank and the other person in the room. "Lester said she was convinced one of her skips was involved. Her only skip was Anthony Marco. I just went to his house with Hector and looked around. He wasn't there nor were any of his electronic devices. It looked like he either cleared out fast, or someone was there before us."

He squeezed my hand again and I was able to feel it better than the last time. I thought this was good.

"Ram, you can go. Thanks for staying."

"Let me know if you need anything," the male voice I now knew was Ram said. "Ella was here about twenty minutes ago and had to leave to make dinner. I told her what the effects of Sure Guard are, so she's bringing up ginger ale and crackers when someone lets her know Stephanie's awake."

"Thank you," Ranger said.

I heard the outer door close and then Ranger and Tank started talking.

"Who found her?" Tank asked.

"Cal. He was waiting in a car a block over. He lost the guy through an alley, so he drove around to catch up with him. He saw a motorcycle drive away and was going to follow when he saw her lying in the alley. He radioed the cycle's plate number which turned out to be stolen."

"That spray was outlawed a while ago," Tank said. "I'm going to make a few calls to the underground dealers and see who's selling it and who has purchased it." I heard the sound of a heavy pat on the back. Tank's footsteps echoed through the apartment and faded away.

It was just Ranger and me. I was trying to move my hand, trying to open my eyes.

"Babe," he said. "I'm ready for the lion attack. If you open your eyes right now you can kick my ass. Please."

I smiled inside at the thought of his reaction if I suddenly opened my eyes and ninja kicked him. I think I also may have smiled on the outside because I heard him take a sharp intake of breath.

"Stephanie, can you hear me?"

I tried to squeeze his hand again and I think I succeeded. He let out a whoosh of air and kissed my hand.

"Babe, when you fully wake up, I don't want you to make any sudden movements. The stuff you were sprayed with is probably going to make you sick."

I was able to move my hands and feet. I let out a groan. "Not cool," I mumbled.

Slowly my eyes were opening; things were blurry at first but were slowly becoming clearer. We were in his bedroom. I wanted to see Ranger but when I turned my head a wave of nausea swept through my body. "Ulk," I said, closing my eyes tight.

"Steph, I want to know what happened, but you don't have to tell me now. It can wait until you're able to walk around."

I was able to move my fingers and lift my forearms. My feet were moving and I was curling my toes. I was also able to rock my legs from side to side.

"I had my gun," I told him with my eyes closed. "I was holding it and I didn't shoot him."

"Was it Anthony Marco?" he asked me, bringing a chair next to the bed.

"I thought the runner was Anthony because he stumbled when I yelled his name, but I couldn't see his face."

"Do you remember a motorcycle?" Ranger asked. "One drove away from where Cal found you."

"The guy on the motorcycle was the one who sprayed me. It was not Marco. He was wearing a helmet probably to hide his identity, and protect himself from the spray. I didn't see any exposed skin, he was all covered up."

Ranger stood up. "Let's get you to the bathroom, you're starting to look a little green."

I felt green. He helped me sit up and it felt like my stomach was inching its way up my throat. He picked me up and brought me to the bathroom. He knelt down next to the toilet, settling me in his lap. I really didn't want to throw up in front of him, but I was afraid I'd fall to the floor if he wasn't there to prop me up.

It didn't take long for my stomach to empty. I was thankful my hair was already in a ponytail. Ranger sat there patiently and rubbed my back until I was finished. He closed the toilet seat and flushed. Then he transferred me onto it while he stood up. "I'll be right back," he said, leaving the room.

I rubbed my eyes, slowly stood up and walked to the sink where I washed out my mouth and carefully brushed my teeth. I looked in the mirror at myself and noticed a makeshift bandage of tape and gauze on my cheek, near my ear. I pressed it and winced. Ranger walked back in and noticed me touch the bandage.

"You have a brush burn and a slight bruise there," he said, handing me two pills and a glass of water.

"Great." I took the pills with a small sip of water. "What time is it?" I asked him.

"A little after five-o'clock," he said, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the bathroom.

I gasped when I remembered I promised to come here to work. "Oh no, I need to do the background checks for you."

"I have someone else doing the searches," Ranger said. "I wanted to have you close by today. I didn't think it would happen quite like this, but you're here now. And you're safe."

"Yeah, I planned on driving here conscious," I said to him. "Who knew that wasn't going to happen?"

He led me into the living room and sat down next to me on the couch. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm okay. I feel stiff and a bit like death, but it could have been worse. My cheek hurt earlier when I pressed on the bandage."

He nodded. "You feel like death, but you're okay," he mused.

"Does this mean we're not going to dinner?" I asked him.

"Are you hungry?"

"Well, no. I was looking forward to going out with you, though."

"First, I want you to tell me everything you remember. Then if you're up to it, you can try out crackers and ginger ale. If you feel better after that we can eat something from Ella and take it easy. After this afternoon, I'm going to be selfish and ask that you stay here," he wrapped his arm around me, "the entire night."

I sighed, "I like that idea. But I get to pick the movie."

He looked at me with an amused expression.

"Okay?"

"Pinky swear," he said, holding out his finger.

We crossed pinky fingers and grinned at one another.

"You know, I'm surprised you're here and not out on the streets looking for the person that did this."

"I have enough resources to send men out to do the ground work. When I got the call that you were injured, I went to the scene and went to Anthony Marco's house, but all I could think of was getting home to you. Besides, I do my best work at night. Now," his blank face took over. He meant business. "Start from the beginning."

I asked him to bring in my purse where I put my notebook. He read over my notes and made comments on his way down.

"We now have someone watching the Marco house. I ordered a background check on him, but did not order one on the Marino girl. We can do that up here."

"Maybe order one on Edward Junior, too. He gave me the willies this afternoon." I told him about E.J. getting too close for comfort, touching my hand and saying that he serviced more than just computers.

I noticed Ranger's lips tighten slightly as I recalled everything.

I went on to give him a play-by-play of exactly what happened after I left McAllister's. I made sure he knew Lester tried to talk me out of it and that I had my gun out with the intention of helping.

"When I followed him down the last alley, I thought the guy with the motorcycle gear was someone from here. I think I let my guard down when I saw him. He didn't even move when Anthony passed him. He zeroed in on me and showed me the Sure Guard. He then told me to drop the gun. I didn't even realize I was still holding it. I dropped it and," my lip started to quiver, I could feel a break-down coming on, "he told me to tell you that next time he won't be as nice to me. Then he sprayed me."

I burst into tears and he pulled me into his chest. "We're going to find these guys, Babe. You were right in your notes about a second person being involved. Now, we just have to figure out who it is."

"Oh my gosh," I said, suddenly remembering my car. "I had groceries in my car."

"I know, Babe. Lester drove your car here and brought the groceries up to the apartment. Everything has been put away."

I wiped my eyes. "You didn't throw away my Tastykakes, did you?"

"No, they're in the Stephanie cupboard with the rest of the unhealthy food."

I smiled. "Most girls get a drawer for a change of clothes. I get an entire cupboard and a good section of closet space."

He grinned. "That's because I love you."

I kissed him and nuzzled into his shoulder. "I'm sorry I screwed things up today."

"Babe, you didn't screw things up. You've gotten further than any of us have. I don't like that you were knocked out and your beautiful skin was hurt," he said rubbing his thumb under my bandage, "but we're going to get these guys and make them regret the day they were born."

I knew he was right. I still couldn't help feeling bad for Anthony Marco. What was wrong with me? He led me into a dark alley with a crazy guy at the end who was handling a chemical weapon compressed in a spray can and I still felt bad for the cute guy who pinky swore with me. Get a grip, Stephanie.

"We need to find out the company Marco works for, maybe they'll be able to trace a location on where he's working from," I told Ranger. "Then we will talk to Jenny."

"I was thinking the same thing," he said. "I might have to go undercover."

I knew what he meant. He'd take advantage of the fact that she wanted a date with him, then he'd get her to spill the beans about anything and everything. Not that I didn't trust him, but I was a little concerned about her. He'd have to wear a wire and someone would have to stand by with a tranquilizer dart in case she tried anything. "Maybe as a last resort," I told him. "Let me try first."

"Please try," he said, kissing my neck. "You'll even get combat pay for it."

"We'll see how you feel about that after you have dinner at my parents' house tomorrow."

He raised an eyebrow toward me and stood up. He tossed the TV remote on the couch and headed toward the door. "I'm going down to five for a few minutes. Check the listings and find a movie you want to watch. I'll call Ella and tell her you're awake. She'll bring up your crackers and ginger ale."

"Thanks," I said, picking up the remote and turning on Ranger's television. I heard the door close and relaxed into the couch.

A few minutes went by and I heard the door open again. "Stephanie," Ella's voice called.

"In here," I called back.

She came into the room and her expression was that of a concerned mother. She was carrying crackers and a bottle of ginger ale. "Oh honey, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," I told her. "A little sore and queasy, but I hope what you're holding is going to fix it."

She set the food on the table in front of me. "It will and if you start to feel hungry call down to six. I'll make you whatever you want."

"Thanks, Ella." I said, grabbing the ginger ale. She squeezed my shoulder and let herself out.

I sat with the remote going through the TV listings for movies. There were a few movies starting soon. I'd wait for Ranger before picking exactly what we were going to watch.

I picked up my purse and pulled out my cell phone. I sent Cal a text message thanking him for finding me and bringing me back. He responded back with _Just glad ur ok_. I sent another text to Lester thanking him for bringing my car and groceries back, and apologized for not listening to him. He didn't text back. I figured he was either working, or angry with me. Then I sent a text to Bobby, thanking him for bandaging my cheek. He responded asking me how I was feeling, and asking if I needed him to come up. I told him I felt better and it wasn't necessary to come up. I closed the phone and ate a few crackers.

Ranger walked in at the same time my phone buzzed with a text from Lester. _No need to apologize, I ate one of your Tastykakes and felt much better._ I responded with a row of exclamation points, glad he wasn't angry with me.

Ranger entered the room with a tray of sandwiches, two bottles of water, and sliced oranges.

"I grabbed this from the fridge downstairs, in case you get hungry," he told me. "You don't have to eat if you're not up to it."

I held up my crackers. "I'm good."

"Did you pick a movie?"

"I narrowed it down to three. Speed is starting soon, then there's Ocean's Eleven that starts in half an hour. I can't remember the last one. Probably wasn't important."

"Whatever you want, Babe."

"Okay, if you insist," I said, clicking the button that turned on the DVD player. I knew Ghostbusters was still in there from the last time I watched it here.

Ranger lifted an eyebrow toward me. He knew what was about to start playing, too. "Couldn't remember, huh?"

I looked at him, ate a cracker, and grinned. He lightly mussed my hair and took a sandwich, settling in to watch the movie.

Right around the destruction of the gigantic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, there was a knock on the door. Ranger went to answer it.

"You'll miss the ending," I warned him.

"I'll live," he answered back.

I wasn't really worried. We've watched this movie together almost monthly, and I watched it even more often than that. I'm sure Ranger was relieved to go to the door.

Bobby stood in the doorway and talked quietly as he handed a file to Ranger. He made eye contact with me and I gave him a little finger wave. He smiled and came over to see me.

"Hey Steph," he said. "Do you mind if I sit next to you and check some of your vitals?"

I moved over to give him room. "Go for it."

Bobby sat down, setting a medical bag on the coffee table. He took out an ear thermometer and held it to my ear. It beeped, and he said that looked normal. He took my pulse rate and blood pressure, and checked my breathing with his stethoscope. He noticed Ghostbusters was ending and apologized for interrupting.

"That's alright," I told him. "I'm sure Ranger is glad that you did."

"I never understood the pairing of Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray," he said. "He's a little too goofy."

"No way," I told him. "He's funny and adorable. She's unable to resist the Peter Venkman charm."

"Funny and adorable?" he asked me, taking the bandage off my cheek. "Is that what you see in Ranger?"

I smiled at him, not really knowing what to say. "Isn't that what everyone sees in Ranger?"

He laughed a loud, booming laugh. We heard Ranger clear his throat in the doorway. "She's funny," Bobby told Ranger. "Is that what you see in her?"

"Isn't that what everyone sees in her?" Ranger said, raising his eyebrow and smirking.

Bobby smiled as he rubbed antiseptic on my cheek. He placed a new, smaller band-aid on it and stood up. "Everything looks good. You scared us earlier," he said to me. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"So am I," I said. "Thanks, Bobby."

"Will she be able to exercise tomorrow morning?" Ranger asked.

"She should be fine, but maybe a modified workout would be best just for tomorrow."

"No!" I yelled. Ranger and Bobby turned toward me, amused expressions on their faces. "I was only doing this to capture Anthony Marco. I think it's safe to say that I won't be capturing him on my own, if at all."

Ranger turned to Bobby and nodded. Bobby waved to me and let himself out of the apartment.

"Do you remember what I asked you to think about, Babe?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you asked me to think about training with you."

"You also said you'd see how this week went. You have to finish the week."

"Ranger."

"Babe."

We held eye contact. I tried to think of a good argument to use, but I knew I should train with him. Not only would it give him the peace of mind, it would make me better at my job. "Fine. I'll finish the freakin' week."

"Thank you," he said to me. "I had Hal call your sister and tell her workouts will be here at the RangeMan gym tomorrow."

I thought about my workout schedule and how I left it at home. Then I thought of Rex, waiting for me to come home and feed him. "I need to go home to get some stuff if I'm staying here. And I need to get Rex."

"I'll have someone get Rex and whatever else you need," Ranger said.

"It'd just be easier if I went," I told him. "I know where everything is, and I have a key."

"Babe. You're the only one who needs a key to get into your apartment."

I chose to ignore that. "Are you coming with me or not?"

"I just got the information on Anthony Marco and Jenny Marino and I'd like to look them over. Can you wait for an hour for me to go with you, or do you want me to send someone else?"

"I can go by myself."

"That's not an option, Babe. Bobby said you'd be fine to exercise tomorrow, but I bet if we called him right now he'd discourage you from driving."

I didn't feel back to a hundred percent anyway. "I'd rather go now to get Rex, he hasn't had anything to eat since early this morning."

"Okay," he told me, opening his phone. He dialed a number and waited. "Stephanie needs a ride home to grab a few things. Five minutes."

"Hal will be waiting for you in the garage," he told me. "Don't give him a hard time."

"Who, me?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

I had my purse on my shoulder as I took the elevator down to the garage. Hal stood just outside the elevator door and grinned sheepishly when I came through.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me.

"I'm okay. I felt a little dizzy in the elevator, but that could just be because all elevators are a little shaky."

Hal hovered next to me as we walked to the car. He seemed to be waiting for me to fall. While I appreciated the effort, it was a little embarrassing.

"I'm really fine," I told him. Then of course, I stumbled. Hal grabbed me by the elbow with one hand and my waist with the other, his face as white as a sheet of paper. "Whoops, sorry about that."

Hal wiped his forehead on his sleeve, and opened the door to a black Ford Explorer for me.

We pulled into the parking lot and I opened the door before Hal turned the car off. "I'll just be a minute," I said to him.

"I'm coming with you," Hal said, "and I'm going in first, in case anyone is in there."

I sighed. "Don't you guys ever get sick of protecting me?"

"Nope."

We took the elevator up to my apartment on the second floor. I gave Hal the key and he motioned for me to stand to the side of the door. He opened the door and walked in, gun drawn. I thought about sneaking up behind him to scare him a bit, get him back for the fake stun gun, but I thought the possibility of him shooting me was high at the moment.

It took about a minute for Hal to come back out, telling me the coast was clear. Usually I think the apartment search is a little over the top, but after being chemically attacked by the Terminator, I was glad to have someone else with me.

My first priority was to feed Rex. He was running on his little hamster wheel, which isn't totally strange for him, but he usually sleeps when he's hungry. I glanced at his food dish and noticed a half-eaten baby carrot. I definitely didn't leave that for him this morning. I glanced at his water bottle and saw that it was almost full to the top.

"Hal?"

"What's up?" he asked, moving next to me.

"Did you feed Rex when you came in?"

"No, why?"

"I haven't been home all day, and he has half a carrot and a full bottle of water. Has anyone else been here?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I'll call the control room."

Hal walked out of the kitchen to the foyer to make the call. I had a weird feeling, so I removed the water and carrot. Rex looked just fine, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I stuck my finger into the cage and rubbed Rex's side as he ran. He slowed down and let me pet him.

A little over half a year ago, after I broke up with Morelli, I went away for a weekend with my best friend, Mary Lou, and I needed a sitter for Rex. Valerie's landlady didn't allow pets in the house, so Angie and Mary Alice were in charge of coming over before and after school to feed Rex. I labeled one of the fridge drawers as the hamster drawer to make things easier for them. When I got back from the trip, I noticed that the label was stickier than anticipated, so instead of making a mess, I kept the sticker on and it became the official Rex drawer.

I didn't think a psycho would come in here and feed my pet. I've had people try to kill Rex before, once by trapping a cat in the tank with him, and another time by attempting to stick him with a needle full of drugs. Never have I had someone break in to feed him. I supposed it could have been one of the girls, or maybe it was someone at RangeMan. I went to my phone and called Valerie. Angie picked up.

"Hi kiddo, it's Aunt Steph. Did someone come over here and feed Rex today?"

"No, we went shopping after school then came home."

"Okay, thought I'd call and ask; tell everyone I said hi."

"Okay, bye!"

I sighed. I'd really hoped it was them. I tried to think of who had a key to my place. Grandma Mazur does, but she didn't drive and would let me know if she planned on coming over. Then there was Joe. He'd never given my key back, and I hadn't asked him for it. I seriously doubted it was him who came in to feed Rex. What the hell, I thought. No stone left unturned. I dialed his number.

"Yeah?" he sounded a little agitated.

"Hey, it's Stephanie."

"Oh, hey, how's it going?" he asked, his voice filled with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"Actually, I was wondering if you came by my place today."

"No," he said in a more suspicious tone. "Why, what happened?"

"Oh, well, nothing really. I came home to pick a few things up and saw that someone fed Rex. Just trying to pinpoint who it was."

"Sorry Steph, it wasn't me. I've been here doing paperwork on three unrelated double homicides. Are you sure Ranger doesn't have a man hired specifically for that job?" he asked a bit sarcastically.

I hoped not. "I just thought I'd call and check. Have a good night."

"Wait," he said quickly. "There's something you're not telling me."

I sighed. "Yes, but it's not that big of a deal..."

"Steph, tell me. I know we aren't _together_ anymore, but I hope we're at least friends. I'm a cop, if anything, I can help."

I took in a deep breath and quickly said, "A stranger sprayed me with Sure Guard today while I was chasing a skip. And it's possible that he threatened me previously."

"Sure Guard? Jesus, that's a chemical weapon. Are you serious?"

"Yep. I'm okay now though. I'll find this guy."

He expelled some air. "I have no doubt that after being sprayed with that shit Ranger is combing the streets to see who's buying and selling." I didn't know what to say. He was half right, Tank was actually looking, but I didn't feel the need to talk about it. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks Joe."

"Anytime, Cupcake. Call me if you need anything. You should file a police report if you haven't already."

"Okay, gotta go," I said quickly, not wanting to get into it. After I placed the phone on the charger, I noticed Hal standing in the doorway.

"It wasn't my sister or her kids who fed Rex, nor was it Joe."

"Morelli?" Hal asked. "Why would it be him?"

"I knew it wasn't, but I was just going through the list of people who had keys."

"Oh," Hal said, glancing around the kitchen. "No one from RangeMan came here today after Tank and I left this morning, except Ranger to get your gun. He's going to call you soon. While we wait, we should go through the apartment to see if anything is missing or disturbed."

I walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. My computer was still there and so was the purple mouse. Nothing was missing or messed up from what I could see. Everything looked the same in the living room as well. When I walked into the bedroom, I felt a shiver down my spine. Something was off.

I couldn't remember how I left my curtains, but they were open and my bed looked like someone made a half-assed attempt to make it. I hardly ever made my bed, and I didn't think Ranger made it either, but I wasn't sure. I'd ask him when he called.

"I don't see anything missing," I told Hal, "but it looks like my bed has been made."

"Is that strange?"

"I only make my bed when my mother is coming over. Which is never."

"Did you check the garbage cans?" Hal asked me.

"No, why?"

"If someone is sloppy, they might throw something with a fingerprint on it in the garbage, not even thinking about it."

I checked the garbage in the bathroom, which looked fine, as did a small wastebasket in the dining room. The kitchen garbage didn't have anything new in it; the container from the Philly cheesesteak Ranger brought me sat right on top.

I thought about the day before and remembered Rex had a carrot in his food dish when I woke up from my nap. I thought Ranger left it for him, but I never actually asked.

Come to think of it, Ranger left the dinner in my fridge while I was sleeping. I hoped he fed Rex, because the alternative was a little unnerving. I didn't want to think about a crazy person coming in while I was sleeping, feeding my hamster, and doing who knows what.

I was staring at the garbage can when Hal tapped me on the shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so."

"Your phone is ringing."

I snapped out of the daze I was in and answered my phone to Ranger.

"Did you feed Rex a carrot yesterday when you brought over the cheesesteak?"

"No," Ranger said. "Talk to me."

"Hal and I came in the apartment and the first thing I went to do was feed Rex. When I looked in the tank I saw that he had half a carrot and an almost full bottle of water. I didn't feed him, nor has anyone else who has a key. Then I remembered last night when I got the cheesesteak you brought out of my fridge, Rex had a carrot in his bowl. I figured you put it in there. Do you remember if it was in there when you dropped off the sandwich?"

"I'm positive it was not in there when I came over. I can tell you I gave him a blueberry."

"Well, that means between the time you dropped off the food and the time I woke up, someone else was here."

"Did you check the rest of the apartment?" he asked.

"Yes, the only thing that looked off was the fact that my bed was made, which I didn't do. Did you?"

"No."

"Maybe we should start making the bed," I said. "If some weirdo came in here and thought the bed was messy enough to make it, maybe that's some sort of sign."

"I'm coming over with Hector. He's going to install some security equipment. Start collecting your stuff and have Hal bring you back to RangeMan."

I sighed and closed my phone. I looked over at Hal. "I'm going to grab some clothes, I'll be back."

"Holler if you need anything," Hal said.

I walked to my room and closed the door. I looked at the bed and felt very angry. Who just goes into a person's apartment, feeds their hamster and makes their bed? The housekeeping fairy? And if there was a housekeeping fairy, they'd know how to make a bed better than that.

I grabbed the comforter and ripped it back from where it was tucked under the pillows. Take that, I thought.

I felt slightly dizzy so I sat on the floor and grabbed a laundry basket to fill up. I reached into my drawers taking out a few bras, panties, socks, and tank tops. I slid the basket to my closet and crept after it, my head aching so badly at that point, I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. Splashes of light formed in front of my eyes, so I laid down and closed them. I heard my landline phone ring and stop. I assumed the machine or Hal picked it up.

I think I may have fallen asleep for a couple of seconds because I was jolted back into consciousness by my bedroom door banging open.

"Holy shit!" Hal swore.

I tried sitting up, but my head was still pounding. Then I heard my window break. I jumped up, and could feel myself swaying. Hal caught me and lifted me in a cradle hold, carrying me through the apartment and into the hallway, swearing to himself.

"Stephanie, what happened?" Hal asked, panicked. "Are you okay?"

"Headache," was all I could manage to say.

I heard him close my apartment door, and felt the vibrations of his footsteps as he took the stairs to the lobby. He sat me in one of the armchairs and opened the door to the outside, propping a potted plant in front to hold it open. I felt better instantly. He grabbed his phone, pressing numbers frantically.

"Stephanie's okay," he said into the phone. "No, I mean, I wanted to start out saying that because she got a phone call while she was packing in her bedroom. I let the machine get it and the person on the other end knew I was in there. He said to check on her because she looked sleepy. So I went in there and she was passed out on the floor. The second I entered in there I felt weird like something was in the air. I tried to open the window but it was nailed shut. I threw a bottle of lotion through it and carried her out of the room. We're in the lobby." Hal closed the phone and came over to me.

"Someone called and said I looked sleepy? What the hell is going on?" I asked him.

"Ranger will be here in..." he said as a RangeMan SUV pulled into the lot, "uh, now."

The car didn't even stop before Ranger hopped out of the passenger side and came jogging into the lobby.

"Masks and gloves should be in the SUV's first aid kit," he said to Hal.

"Yes, sir," Hal said.

"Call Louis about coming over to board up her window for tonight."

"Yes, sir."

"You and I are going to go through it first then call the cops, bring Hector in to stay with Stephanie."

"Yes, sir." Hal left to tell Hector the plan and get the masks and gloves.

Ranger knelt next to my chair and looked into my eyes. I wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to see, but I knew he was concerned. "Are you okay? Hal said he found you passed out on your floor."

"Yes, sir," I said, trying to lighten the mood. I failed. "I don't think I passed out, I had a crazy headache and I may have fallen asleep."

"Babe that would be passing out" he said, pulling my eyelid up. "Tell me what happened when you went to your room."

"I felt dizzy as soon as I went in there. So I sat on the floor to fill up my laundry basket with clothes. My head began pounding as I made my way to the closet."

"Nothing else happened?" he asked.

My brain felt foggy, like I was trying to remember something that happened ten years before. "No... wait, yes. I was angry that someone made my bed, so I pulled the comforter down to stake my territory."

He made a face at that which showed fifty percent concern, fourty-nine percent pain, and a single percent of amusement. His body language told me he was three-hundred percent pissed off. His fists were clenching and the line of his mouth tightened. "Something was on the bed, and someone was able to see you."

Hector and Hal came in. Hal tossed a mask to Ranger and put one on himself. Hector had a toolbox with him and sat in the chair next to me, nodding toward Ranger and Hal, who took off running up the stairs.

Hector and I made eye contact. I smiled at him. I didn't know the extent of his English speaking abilities so I said something safe. "Hi."

He nodded toward me. "Hi."

I don't know why I felt compelled to talk to him. Maybe it was because I wanted to be friends with the people who were forced to protect me, hoping it would make the job easier for them if they liked me. Maybe it was because I wanted to stay on the good side of a guy with a teardrop tattoo under his eye. "Having a good night?" I asked him.

"Si," he said nodding. "And you?"

"I've had better," I told him.

He smiled. "I am glad you are okay."

"Thank you. I hope I'm not ruining any plans you had tonight."

He was silent, thinking over my words. "No plans, Xbox will wait for me."

I thought that was funny. I liked seeing the non-work sides of Ranger's men. "What game are you playing?"

"Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto."

No surprise there. "Are you good?"

"Si. I have the top score at RangeMan."

"Nice."

"Do you play?" he asked me.

"Not since Tetris on my Game Boy."

He grinned and repeated, "Game Boy." I could practically see his childhood video game playing memories flash through his mind from the far off, happy look on his face. It actually made me forget for a minute why we were sitting in my lobby, until Hector's phone rang.

He took it out and looked at the screen. "Ranger," he said to me. "Si?" he said opening the phone.

He said a series of "si's" and "okay's," looking at me as he hung up.

"I have to install the cameras. Ranger is coming down to wait with you."

"Thanks, Hector."

"Okay, Chica."

Hector picked up his toolbox as Ranger came out from the stairwell holding Rex's cage. Ranger took off the gas mask with one hand and handed it to Hector. Hector said something to Ranger in Spanish, which made them both glance at me. Hector put the mask on, bumped fists with Ranger, and went up the stairs.

"Long day," Ranger commented as he walked over to me. He placed Rex's cage on a side table. The best description for the look on his face was disappointed.

I grunted. It was too long, too painful, too creepy and too weird. I felt his hands rest on my shoulders.

"We're going to have to get rid of your mattress," he told me.

I felt too tired and defeated to care. "Figures." I turned in the chair and looked into his face. "What do you think was on it?"

He moved around me to sit in the chair Hector just vacated. "I have a guess, but I can't be sure. We took a swab to test, and the police will, too."

"What do _you_ think it was?" I asked again.

"I think someone took a chemical, namely one known as GD, and sprayed it all over your bed, throwing your comforter on top of it so you'd get the full effect when you laid down."

I grimaced. "What happens when someone gets the _full effect_?"

"GD is a highly toxic chemical. It interferes with the nervous system causing blurred vision, nausea, muscle twitching, headaches, and can make you lose consciousness among other things. I've seen it in both liquid and powder forms. It can be thickened to use as a spray, which I think is what is on your bed. The rate of attack for the vapors is seconds. If you laid directly on it inhaling the fumes while absorbing it through your skin...," he paused and shook his head, "I don't want to think about it."

"How do you know about this stuff?"

"The army."

Ranger didn't discuss his military career much with me. Occasionally he would tell me about someone he served with, a place he toured, or a very edited version of something that he went through. Most of the time, he didn't mention it. I wasn't sure if it was a confidentiality issue or if he just preferred to not talk about it, but I never pressed him on any of that. He was Special Forces, and probably had seen more than most people had in a thousand lifetimes.

I didn't want to pressure him on this, but this stuff was all over my bed. "What makes you think it was GD?"

"It has a distinct odor and the color of the splatter marks on your sheets is consistent with GD."

"A distinct odor? I thought you were wearing a mask?"

"I had a feeling it was GD, so I smelled it."

"Are you kidding?" I asked him, feeling a large twinge of guilt pain in my chest. "Why didn't you wait until you tested the swab?"

"It could take days to get that back. This was the second time today you were attacked with a chemical weapon, and I didn't want to wait. I want to find out who is buying this, and then I want to make their life hell."

"I want you to make their life hell, too, but I don't want you going around willingly sniffing stuff that could seriously make you sick."

"Do I look sick?" He sat with his elbows on the arms of the chair, his fingers steepled. His legs were slightly separated, bent at the knees. He slowly tapped his foot.

"No, you look frustrated," I said. "Angry."

"I am. When we get back, remind me to show you the files for Anthony Marco and Jenny Marino."

"Find anything?" I asked him.

"They're so boring you'd think they were made up."

"So, what do we do now?" I asked him.

"We wait until Hector and Hal are finished, then we'll call the cops to do their thing. It's possible that the feds will be brought in if the chemical is GD."

"The feds?" Usually when my apartment became a crime scene with the regular cops, it would be sealed for a day or two, but I had no idea how long it would take if the federal government came in. Things were never fast with the feds! I felt panic setting in. "When will I be able to get back into my apartment?" my voice squeaked.

"Babe. You're acting like I'm going to leave you stranded here."

"I don't want to impose on your space for too long," I said to him.

"You would never be imposing at my place. I like having you there." He looked over at Rex. "Plus, Rex likes it there."

I turned my attention toward Rex. He was sitting in the corner of his cage, checking out the current surroundings. "He does like your kitchen and Ella feeds him pretty well."

"He's safe there," Ranger added.

"And he thinks it smells nice," I said.

"I'd like to think he doesn't mind hanging out with me."

"He definitely feels comfortable with you."

We were silent, watching Rex. We both knew we weren't talking about my hamster.

Ranger turned to me. "Stay with me."

"You're sure it's okay?"

He looked at me. "Babe."

I stretched my leg between his and gave him a nudge. "Thank you."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Ranger sat with me in the lobby for about ten more minutes before he got the okay from Hector to call the Trenton P.D. We watched as a few blue and whites pulled into the parking lot, followed by an ambulance, a HAZMAT vehicle, and Joe Morelli's truck.

I stayed with Rex as Ranger went out to the parking lot to talk to the police and a man from the HAZMAT team. I worried about Ranger, Hal and Hector in my apartment without wearing anything close to what these guys were wearing. I hadn't seen Hector or Hal in a while, and I hoped they weren't lying dead in my apartment.

Morelli stood to the side of Ranger's conversation with a HAZMAT guy, listening intently, wearing his cop face. He glanced toward the building and saw that I was sitting inside. He clapped the HAZMAT guy on the back and walked toward me. He was a detective for the Trenton P.D., but I wasn't sure whether he was stuck with this case, or if he showed up out of morbid curiosity.

He walked through the doorway, which was still held open by the plant, and stopped when he saw Rex sitting on the table next to me. "Glad you took this seriously enough to get Rex out of there."

"Ranger got him out," I said. "Hal had to carry me out and I didn't even think of Rex." I held back a whimper at the thought of Rex dying, "I'm a terrible hamster mother!"

Joe's shoulders hunched and he took the seat that Ranger had vacated a couple minutes before. "Cupcake, you're not a terrible hamster mother, you're a magnet for psychos. I can tell you right now that you won't be able to get into your apartment for at least a few days, maybe a couple of weeks. The feds will want to investigate this, and depending on the toxicology report on whatever is all over your bed, this might fall to the Department of Homeland Security. If Ranger is right and this is GD, this would be considered a terrorist case as GD is a WMD."

I grimaced. "A weapon of mass destruction was sprayed on my bed?" Good thing I was sitting down. I hardly ever said the f-word, but I thought the situation called for a nice, big, "fuck!"

Joe smiled. "My sentiments exactly."

We sat there watching as the responders slipped on plastic suits, and made their way into the building. They cleared out all of the apartments on the second floor as a precaution, but most of the tenants were in the parking lot anyway, trying to figure out what was happening. Morelli excused himself to question a few of the tenants, as well as Hector and Hal. Two EMTs checked me out and were commenting on possibly bringing me in for blood work, but Ranger assured them that I could have it done by the medic at RangeMan. I think if anyone other than Ranger said it, they would have taken me to the hospital.

Ranger and Morelli were fascinating to watch. For the better part of a few years they were competitors, but when they had to work together they were civil. I didn't know what was going through their minds, but they were professional. Morelli thought Ranger was a loose cannon, and had a very hard time when he found out I was in a relationship with Ranger. Here they were now, civil and professional. I assumed they had an understanding, though I didn't know what it was.

They went upstairs with the police, and I was stuck downstairs with two babysitters, Hector and Hal. They escorted me and Rex to the Hector's SUV and we went back to RangeMan.

As luck would have it, Hal is a talker. On the ride back I asked him what they found in my apartment and he was ready to sing like a canary. "When I went upstairs with Ranger the first thing he did was look for the camera in your bedroom. It didn't take him long after he asked me where you were laying. He didn't take it off of the wall, because he didn't want to disturb a crime scene, but he did cover it up. Then he checked out your bed and had a good feeling that he knew what was on it. After that, Hector came up he noticed you had dropped ceilings and found three more cameras in addition to the one in the bedroom, all connected through wires in the ceiling."

"Where were they?" I asked.

"In your living room, just above the doorway with a view of the couch; the dining room behind your computer probably so they could see what you were researching; and one in the kitchen in the corner of the ceiling with an overall view."

"Hector," I asked, "Is there a way to find out who put the cameras there? Or how long they were recording for?"

Hector was silent. I supposed it was going to be harder to get information out of him than Hal. I sighed and sat back in my seat. Hector cleared his throat. "I do not know how long they were recording. They were connected to a small computer in your ceiling, broadcasting the feeds to another location using your internet connection. I copied all the computer files so we can check them out at RangeMan to see if we can find an owner. The police have the actual computer and will be doing the same."

It was 8 p.m. The sun had almost completely set by the time we arrived at RangeMan. As soon as we pulled in I felt relieved. I was safe here. We all were.

Ella was wearing a surgical mask, waiting for us in the garage. She told Hector and Hal to head to the showers in the gym and to throw their clothes away. She had left new clothes for them there. When they left, she took a key fob out of her pocket and scrambled the cameras. She had a plastic suit for me to wear which slipped over my shoes and clothes, all the way up to my neck. She scrambled the cameras again in the elevator and let me go to seven to shower. Before the elevator door closed she told me she'd change Rex's cage and to call Bobby when I was ready for him to draw blood.

I opened Ranger's door and walked slowly to the bathroom. There was no traction in the plastic suit I had on, and all I needed was to slip and crack my head open on the hardwood floors.

I stepped into the bathroom and saw a large garbage can in front of the shower. That must be where my clothes were going. Careful not to slip, I stepped in the shower and slowly removed the plastic suit, followed by my shoes and clothes. They all went into the garbage can. Goodbye nice black bra and panties I bought a week ago. I turned on the water and stood there for what seemed like an hour.

I couldn't believe all of this happened in one day. I hoped that I didn't lose too many brain cells from breathing in two different chemical weapons in one day. The thought flashed through my mind that I'd have to make Ranger promise to kill me if I woke up the next day and had an urge to hang out with Joyce Barnhardt.

I was in the process of rinsing my conditioner out of my hair when I heard the bathroom door open. "Ranger?"

"Lucy, I'm home," Ranger said on the other side of the shower door. I couldn't help but smile. Whenever he made a reference to an old TV show, it reminded me that he probably had a relatively normal childhood. I heard his clothes fall into the garbage can and he entered the shower with me. "I hoped I'd find you here," he said, pulling me close to him.

"I've been here a while," I told him. "You might run out of hot water soon. You better be quick."

"Babe, nothing about what I'm going to do with you is going to be quick."

.

I woke up in Ranger's bed. It was the middle of the night and Ranger was gone. My eyes shifted toward the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was 1 a.m. I sat up and felt a slight head rush. I made my way to the kitchen and took two Tylenol. There was no response when I called his name, so I called his cell using his apartment phone. It went directly to voice mail. I hung up and thought maybe he was on the fifth floor in his office.

It was dark in the apartment. I knew I had on a RangeMan t-shirt, but that was it. So I walked back into the bedroom and slipped into a pair of jeans. I took my key fob and walked to the elevator, pressing the number five as I stepped in. When the doors re-opened, I noticed that RangeMan at one in the morning was way different than during the afternoon. The desks were empty, the office doors were closed. A tumbleweed could've blown by and I wouldn't have been surprised. I walked to Ranger's office and knocked. The lights were off, and the door was locked. I looked toward the control room and locked eyes with Brett.

"He's not here," Brett said in a kind of stage whisper.

I sighed and walked toward him. "Do you know where he is?"

He pointed to a red blip on his computer. "His car is heading south on Hamilton."

"How long ago did he leave?"

"I'd say about an hour ago," Brett said.

Another Merry Man was in the room, but I didn't know his name. He kept his eyes on his computer screen, and didn't seem to care about the random curly-haired woman in the room.

"Why would he leave without telling me?" I asked no one in particular.

"Um," the guy in the chair said. "Do you always pin pieces of paper to your shirt?"

I looked down and saw what he was talking about. Ugh. Mental head slap. I took it off and saw Ranger's handwriting on the inside of the folded paper.

_Babe,  
>Checking out a few things<br>Be back soon.  
>R<em>

Well, he did say that he did his best work at night. I glanced over Brett's shoulder again, seeing Ranger's dot stopped on Vanderbilt Street. I shrugged, thanked them, and walked back to the elevator.

My headache was nonexistent by the time I reentered Ranger's apartment. I wasn't tired so I walked into his office and flipped the light switch. The files for Jennifer Marino and Anthony Marco sat on top of his desk. He wanted me to look at them, and we were kind of busy when he came home earlier, so I forgot to ask him to show me. I rounded the corner of his desk and sat in his buttery smooth leather chair, inhaling the scent of leather and Bulgari. I felt little pangs of desire skirt through my belly and made a mental note to take advantage of him in this office sometime soon.

Opening Jenny's folder first, I noticed it was slimmer than many of the folders I'd seen previously. Bare-boned descriptions of jobs, family history, work history, and credit history. She was squeaky clean. A little too clean. At least I was right that she was twenty-eight, score one for me. It showed the police report she filed for Anthony Marco. Nothing I hadn't seen before, except now I had a face to put with the name for his ex-girlfriend.

I closed Jenny's folder, and opened the one for Anthony. His was thicker with full details of his education and sports background. We went to the same high school, but I graduated before he entered. There were print outs of news articles detailing his running career from high school, college, and up until now. His parents had passed away when he was fifteen, and he lived with various family members until he purchased his home when he was twenty-four. He'd worked for Treasure City Casino for the last ten years; his only job. He'd held a few titles there, and was currently a Systems Engineer working from home.

There was a note stapled to his work with a supervisor's name, phone number, and description of what a Systems Engineer does. _Monitoring, maintaining, supporting, and optimizing all networked software and associated operating systems. The S.E. will apply proven communication, analytical, and problem solving skills to help identify, communicate, and resolve issues in order to maximize the benefit of IT systems investments._ I felt my eyes going in and out of focus. Maybe it was the late hour or lingering effects of the chemicals, but reading that was like listening to the teacher in the Peanuts cartoons. Get a grip and pay attention, Stephanie. This guy is dangerous.

I looked for previous arrests, but only came up with this one. Ranger was right, Anthony and Jenny were boring.

I turned on Ranger's computer to do a search for Edward McAllister Jr. I knew the RangeMan search programs pretty well by now. A few times a month I came in to supplement my income by doing background searches. Right before Ranger and I started dating, he asked me to work for him full time, which I seriously considered until I told Lula. She cried. I told Ranger I couldn't leave her. He said he understood, and to consider it an open offer.

After the computer booted up, I started my work. I only had E.J.'s name and work address, but that was all I needed to start. He was thirty, and went to the same college as Anthony Marco. They participated in the same running programs, and had the same major, Computer Science. They had to have crossed paths enough throughout the years to have E.J. steal Anthony's girlfriend.

E.J. worked for his parents since he was in high school. After he graduated college he became the head computer repair tech. Currently he was the only tech.

I copied his social security number and pasted it into the program that investigated arrest records. This was a program that took a while, as it searched the country. I reached for the phone on Ranger's desk and called his cell again. This time it at least rang.

"Yo."

"Hey, where did you go?"

"I had to check on a few addresses for Anthony Marco."

"Oh." I didn't want to sound whiny, so I didn't ask why he didn't take me, but I couldn't help feeling left out. Anthony Marco was my skip after all. "Did you find him?"

"We checked a few homes belonging to relatives and friends, but we think he's staying somewhere else."

"I checked his file as well as Jenny's. You were right, they were boring."

"Something about the Marino girl's file is sending off red flags to me," Ranger said. "She's young, but she may be a fed."

I thought about it. Jenny Marino had huge boobs and looked very Jersey. "She seemed pretty genuine to me."

"You can talk to her in the morning, Babe."

Super. "Are you coming back now?"

"Will you wait for me?"

"Sure, I'm actually running a check on police records for Edward McAllister Junior, so I'll be in your office when you get back."

"On five or seven?"

"Seven."

"Feel free to get comfortable," he said as he hung up. I had no idea what he meant, but had a feeling it had something to do with clothing, or lack thereof. I glanced at the computer and it was still in search mode. I went to Ranger's closet, slipped out of my jeans and his shirt, grabbing a dark purple thong and matching camisole. I'd brought them over a while back and never got a chance to fully show it off because while Ranger appreciates the gift wrap, he's more interested in the present. I added a pair of four-inch black FMPs and a touch up of mascara and lip gloss.

I sat down, lifting my legs to the corner of the desk, crossing them at the ankles. I was able to still look at the program, which was ninety-seven percent complete. I heard the locks tumble on Ranger's door and kept my eyes on the screen, like I had better things to do than notice the dark, sexy Cuban man who just walked into the office.

"Babe," he said, with a predatory grin, standing against the doorjamb. He was wearing black cargoes and a black long-sleeved t-shirt. His hair was pulled back and held with a leather tie, and I could feel his eyes move from my shoes to my legs.

The search was ninety-nine percent complete. "Hey," I said glancing up at him, politely smiling back. "I'm just finishing up here."

"I think you're done now," he told me, walking over to my side of the desk.

Ninety-nine and a half percent. I uncrossed my legs and placed them back on the floor. "I could've helped you tonight."

"I didn't want to wake you," he said. "You had a long day."

"So did you."

"I can handle it." He stood over me, turning the chair to face him. He placed his leg between mine and used his hand to tilt my chin up, locking eyes with me. "You're so beautiful, Babe."

I glanced down at my outfit and shyly grinned. "Is this comfortable enough for you?"

He nodded as he used his finger to tuck a curl behind my ear, letting it linger on my face, down my neck, and lightly over my cleavage.

My hips felt like they were going to burst into flames. I turned to shut the computer monitor off, when I saw the search was complete.

"Holy shit!" I said, grabbing the mouse to scroll down the page. "There are thirteen hits for E.J. McAllister, all taken place within the last year."

Ranger moved so he was standing behind me, looking at the screen. "RangeMan runs checks on potential clients before we open the accounts, you know that because you do a lot of them. The McAllister's opened their account about two years ago. I'm not aware of a search being made since.

Ranger reached over me to control the mouse with one hand, lightly rubbing my collarbone with his other. I remembered a time where Ranger and I were in his office reading about a goon called Bluttovich. Ranger was sitting and I was standing over him. The proximity to each other was overwhelming and he told me that either I needed to back up, or we'd continue the search in the morning. Now I knew how he felt. If he moved his hand any further south we'd be christening this office a lot sooner than I'd imagined.

"A lot of disorderly conduct charges," I commented to Ranger. "What a freakin' hypocrite. He tells me that Anthony Marco is nuts because he got angry, drunk, and arrested one time. And here's E.J. doing it, one, two, three... eleven times in the last year?"

"I'm interested in this one for possession of a controlled substance," he said, his hand unmoving on my collar bone. He clicked the link to find out more, and a new window popped up on his screen. We watched as the names of various chemicals popped onto the screen. "Acetone, sulfuric acid, butane, nitric acid..." Ranger trailed off, skimming more of the list. "Nitric acid is used in rocket fuel, and mixing some of these chemicals would easily create a bomb."

I was reading the screen as well, but none of the chemical names were ringing bells in my head. "I see he was arrested," I said to Ranger, "but he was never convicted. I thought the police took things like bombs seriously?"

Ranger scrolled down the page quickly skimming the information. "Insufficient evidence. His lawyer made a case tying all of the chemicals to fixing computers, and the charges were dropped. I'll have to do some research about what chemicals are involved with making GD, but I'm thinking he might be involved."

"I knew my spidey sense was telling me something when I was near this guy," I said to him.

He sent me a small grin and went back to looking at the screen. My spidey sense amused Ranger.

I caught a glimpse of a sentence that said his leg was in a cast during court proceedings. "This must have all taken place shortly after he injured his knee from running." I told Ranger EJ used to be a runner, but blacked out during a race and blew out his knee.

"Takes about two months to heal from a knee injury," Ranger said, looking at the dates of the arrests. "Most of this had to have happened around the time of injury. Being injured must've set him off." Ranger looked away from the screen at me, his eyes lingering on my camisole, making my nipples hard. "Not much we can do about any of this now," he said, turning off the monitor.

"Too late to call," I agreed. I knew full well that Ranger did his best work at night in more ways than one.

"I can only think of one thing it's not too late for." He pulled me out of the chair and bent over, lifting me at my midsection with his shoulder, caveman-style. "Remind me to tell you how much I like these shoes," he said as he brought me back to his bed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"You're not serious," I said to Ranger at 5:45 a.m. "We've had three hours of sleep!"

"You can take a nap later," Ranger said.

I grabbed the pillow he slept on and pulled it over my head.

"You give me a hard time every morning. What makes you think I'm going to keep putting up with it?" he asked me.

"Remember the shoes?" I asked him. "That's why you put up with it. And you love me."

He was silent. I could hear him getting dressed. Did I win? Is he going to let me sleep in? I heard his footsteps as he walked out of the room and I wasn't sure what to think. Taking the pillow off of my head I sat up, my eyes slowly skimming the room. Shit. I couldn't go back to sleep without knowing what he was doing. I didn't want water poured on me, or something worse. I got out of bed, wrapped his sheet around me and stumbled out to find him.

Ranger was in the kitchen with a bottle of water. He looked me over and grinned. "Is that what you're working out in?"

"You weren't planning on pouring that on my head to wake me up, were you?"

"I appreciate the suggestion, but no." He went to the cabinet and took out a cracker for Rex, who had taken up residence on the kitchen counter. Rex scurried out of his soup can, stuffed the cracker into his mouth and ran back into the can.

"I thought maybe you were letting me sleep in," I said.

"No, I was going to let your sister come up to wake you. I called Tank and they should be here in a few minutes. You can lay down until then."

I grumbled and went to his bedroom, finding exercise clothes in the closet. No way was I going to let Valerie see me naked wrapped in Ranger's sheet.

After quickly slipping into black spandex shorts and black tank top with built-in sports bra, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and spruced up in the bathroom. I laced up my sneakers and found my Drill Sergeant in his office, talking on the phone. I wondered who else could possibly be awake at this time, but knowing Ranger, he had a full staff on the fifth floor already.

He disconnected from his call and stood up. "You ready?"

No. "I suppose."

Ranger and I took the elevator down to the gym, making a quick stop on the fourth floor to have Bobby draw blood. As the doors opened on the gym floor, I noticed Hector and Woody standing guard on opposite sides of the door.

"Darn, would you look at that," I said to Ranger. "They're blocking the door. Let's go back to sleep." I turned around to hop back into the elevator, but Ranger's hand closed around my wrist.

"They're here to make sure the men remember that the gym is closed this morning."

I turned back around and glanced at Hector and Woody. They looked straight ahead, as if we weren't there, but the corners of their lips were tipped up obviously because they heard our conversation.

"Hi guys," I said as Ranger opened the door, ushering me in.

Woody nodded toward me and Hector winked as I walked into the gym. I felt myself wanting to pinch his cheek. What was _that_ about? I blushed and smiled at his wink, holding back a laugh at my freakish urge to grab his face and treat him like a little brother. Snap out of it, Stephanie. I wondered if another side effect of GD exposure was delayed wackiness.

I looked around the gym, taking it all in. It was very impressive, with high ceilings and an open floor plan. No TVs, but there were large speakers around the room. I wondered what kind of music the guys listened to in here. Everything looked clean, sophisticated, and intimidating.

There was a large area in the far left corner with thick black mats on the floor. I assumed this is where the sparring took place. I made a mental note to stay far away from there. The area nearest to me had six treadmills lined up in a row and six elliptical machines in a row behind them, all on a raised platform. There were free weights, as well as a few weight lifting benches with large weight plates surrounding them. Toward the middle of the room were weight machines that targeted specific muscle groups. I've seen them used at the regular gym before, just never had a desire to use one. Close to there, toward the far right corner were things like jump ropes and yoga balls. The majority of the room was covered by dark gray carpet, except at the opposite end from where we stood. The floor was a glossed wood, like a basketball court. A single hoop hung above it, and a basketball sat on the floor below.

"Nice place." I elbowed Ranger and nodded toward the ball. "Do you play much?"

"Not as often as I'd like to," he said.

"Maybe one day I'll play with you. Take you to basketball school."

Ranger flashed the full 200-watts. "Do you play?"

"I guess you'll have to wait and see." I didn't play. Unless you count standing in the back of fifth period gym, swatting at the ball like it was a fly whenever it came near me. I just wanted to keep Ranger distracted so I wouldn't have to do whatever he had planned for me.

The gym door opened behind us. Tank led Valerie through the doorway. Her mouth was stretched into an O, and her eyes were darting around the room. "I've died and gone to exercise heaven," Valerie said in a voice just above a whisper.

Tank grunted and mumbled something that sounded remarkably like "exercise hell."

Val turned. "Hmm?"

Tank smirked and handed her a black towel. "Treadmill."

I noticed that Ranger had a black towel of his own when he wrapped it around my neck, leaving it dangle on my chest. "You get a modified workout today, Babe. You're on the treadmill, walking. We'll see where we go from there."

Tank was standing in front of Valerie on her treadmill. I stepped onto the one next to her, glancing at her screen, which had more buttons than the NASA control center. Ranger stood next to me and pressed the needed buttons to start my workout. He put me at two and a half miles-per-hour walking at a three percent incline.

"Let me know if you feel light headed," Ranger said.

I notice Valerie's head turn our way. "I knew it," she said. "Mom called me this morning asking if you were alright because she couldn't get a hold of you. June Lorenzo called saying that the police and hazardous material people were outside your building, and that you were being seen by the paramedics."

"I'm fine," I told her. "It wasn't my fault. But I am staying here for a few days while the police investigate."

Ranger and Tank glanced at each other and it looked like they were speaking telepathically. They moved away from us to a fridge and took out waters, this time continuing their conversation with words.

"Is that a bruise on your face?" Valerie asked.

My hand went up to my cheek. I'd forgotten all about it. "Yeah, I fainted while chasing an FTA and hit my cheek pretty hard."

"Sheesh," Valerie said. "The only thing I have to worry about is maybe falling on my ass after stepping on a ball or a rogue rollerskate."

Sometimes I envied Valerie. She took care of the kids, cleaned the house, cooked the meals, managed the shopping, drove a minivan all around Trenton to run the errands, and she took care of her husband. She was the ringleader, the enforcer, and the rock. She was everything Joe Morelli wanted me to be, that I didn't know how to be and couldn't be with him, and she did it well. She was the alpha dog of the housewife world. She was the Burg.

I, on the other hand, had a bruise on my face, left my hamster child in a contaminated apartment without a second thought, had a crazy person who liked to play chemist stalking me, couldn't cook anything past toast, drove shitty cars that almost always went to car heaven by fire, and the only time I cleaned my apartment was when I wasn't sure I would be coming back to it alive because I didn't want my mother to have to deal with my mess on top of funeral arrangements. I did have Ranger though. Ranger seemed to be totally fine with the mess that is Stephanie Plum. He accepted me for me, and that was something no other man had been able to do.

"I can get on the phone when I get home and make a few calls to the head Burg busy bodies," Val said. "Do you want me to dumb the story down, or make it so outrageous that Grandma will be the star tonight at Stiva's?"

I thought about that. Grandma did like being the center of attention at the funeral home. "Tell them whatever you want," I told her. "They usually just make stuff up anyway."

"So when they ask if it's true that you were cozy with Joe Morelli last night..."

"What! Who said that?" I said, stumbling on the treadmill a little, causing Tank and Ranger to look over. "Jeez," I said as I grabbed hold of the side rails.

"I told you. Mom. She's been fielding calls since last night, and they've probably already started again this morning."

"I was not cozy with Joe," I told Val. "He's a detective, he was doing his job, and we talked for a few minutes. Just. Like. Friends. Do."

"Okay, okay," Val said, putting her hands up in mock surrender.

Ranger brought over two bottles of water, slipping them into the cup holders on the treadmills. He turned to Valerie. "If you can talk, you're not working out hard enough." He pressed the speed button on her treadmill and brought her up to a run. Valerie was silent after that.

Ranger increased the incline on my treadmill, but not the speed. It felt like I was walking up a very steep hill. After a few minutes of that I put my hands on the console, holding myself up as I climbed. "Are you feeling dizzy?" Ranger asked.

"No," I told him, "I'm feeling tired. Someone kept me up late last night."

Ranger grinned and his eyebrow did a very quick flick upward. I took that gesture to mean either he thought I was a wimp, or that he took pride in the fact that he was responsible for making me this tired. Possibly both. "Five more minutes, then we'll do some free weights."

I watched him walk over to the weights, trying not to drool at the delicious specimen of man walking in front of me. He selected a few small weights and lined them up near a black bench. I heard a muffled "ulk" noise next to me, startling me from my Ranger-induced fantasy.

Valerie was red and grabbing her treadmill for dear life. Tank must've seen her as well and took pity on her. He walked over and decreased the speed down to power walking level.

"You know you can control the buttons yourself, right?" he asked her.

"Can I?" Val asked. "I didn't want Ranger to yell at me."

"Ranger wouldn't yell at you," Tank said. "He just wanted you to exercise harder. Exercise is a way we channel our anger and stress. He was helping you channel."

"Channeling," Val repeated. "So probably eating a half gallon of rocky road is not the best way to channel my anger then, huh?"

Tank smiled. "To each his own, but I wouldn't advise it."

"Lula said that she was going to give you a CD for me," Valerie mentioned to him.

"Yeah," Tank said. "I have it in the building. She was working on it all evening."

"Working on it? I thought it was just a CD she had lying around the house?"

"She wanted to burn a CD with songs she thought were, uh, exercise songs."

I had a feeling Lula described the song compilation slightly different than exercise songs. Maybe I was suffering from the delayed wackiness, but I felt compelled to tease Tank a little. "Did she make you try the songs out to see if they were suitable for, _uh,_ _exercise_?"

Tank slid his eyes over to me and a grin started spreading across his face. He took a large hand and covered the right side of his face, rubbing away the invisible blush. "She had me working on it late into the night."

"We aren't talking about working out, are we?" Valerie asked.

"A form of working out," Tank corrected her, getting back into instructor mode, increasing the incline on her treadmill. "Ten minutes," he said as he walked away, shaking his head.

Sipping my water, I glanced around the room. I supposed I could see myself workout out here a few times a week. There would be no worrying about the weather, and it was in close proximity to Ranger's shower, not to mention close proximity to Ranger. I wondered how serious I'd have to be with this. Would Ranger make me sign a contract? Would I have to spar on the mats?

"Are you still coming to dinner tonight?" Valerie asked.

"Yep, Ranger and I will be there."

"Great," Valerie smiled somewhat wickedly. "You better prepare Ranger for the Italian-Hungarian inquisition."

"What do you mean," I asked.

"Nothing. Mom just wants to make sure you and Ranger are serious about each other."

"Again, what do you mean?"

"I think she's finally given up on the idea of you and Morelli. She wants more grandbabies, and I need a few years off."

"Well then, she's going to need a few years off. I have a hamster. I'm content."

We noticed Ranger walking over to us, and Valerie stopped talking. Ranger turned off my treadmill and grabbed my water. "Come on, Babe."

As we walked away, I heard Valerie chuckle. "Babe," she mused quietly.

"Better than snuggle-umpkins," I mumbled back.

Ranger had me sit on the black weight bench he surrounded earlier with small bar bells. "Have you ever used free weights before?"

"Not habitually," I told him.

He pointed to the bench. "Sit."

I turned and angled myself over the bench, so I was straddling it. Ranger straddled the bench too, moving in close behind me. He picked up a five-pound weight that was coated in a black rubber-like material. "Put your elbow on your thigh and hold the weight near your knee," he handed me the weight. "Slowly lift toward your shoulder, and slowly bring it back down. You don't want speed, you want control. Keep your shoulders square and your back straight." He sat behind me watching, counting to ten, then had me switch arms, doing the same thing on the opposite side.

"This isn't so bad," I said.

"I'm glad you think so," he said, replacing the five-pound weight with one that weighted fifteen pounds. This one was two black weights on a small silver bar. "Again."

This one was definitely heavier. Was I having trouble lifting fifteen pounds? Am I really that much of a wimp? Valerie's youngest probably weighed abound this much and she never seemed this heavy. Maybe Ranger was messing with me. "How much does this weigh?"

"Seven and a half on each side, Babe. Fifteen pounds."

Well, hell. I was a wimp.

Ranger must have sensed my discomfort and disbelief of the amount of weight. "If you train with me, this will seem like cake in a few weeks."

"This will not be anything like cake," I told him. "I resent that comment. Cake is wonderful and delicious and doesn't hurt."

"Switch arms, Babe," he said, counting to ten again.

We did this with various weights and positions. Tank had Valerie doing ab exercises on a yoga ball. It looked painful, but she was a champ. With Valerie everything was in the Go-Big-Or-Go-Home mindset. She never half-assed anything. Once she gave up men and tried being a lesbian. She went big. She wore some of our dad's clothes, slicked her hair back like a greasy used car salesman, and got a date with a woman (obviously that didn't work out). When she started dating Albert and became pregnant she ate everything with gravy. Everything. Again, she went big. Unfortunately that also made her bigger than she's comfortable being. Now, the blueberries, the exercise, Val's still going big. She wants to do these workouts, and she seems serious.

I wished she wasn't dragging me with her.

During the last half of our hour, Ranger had to leave to take a call and left me instructions on how to use a couple leg press machines. I sat in it, thinking about sleep. The seat had a slightly reclined back and it probably would be easy to just close my eyes.

Tank cleared his throat. My eyes flew open, and instinctively my legs jumped and did a press.

"Maybe she needs music," Valerie said to him. "I can watch her while you get the CD Lula made."

Tank looked at the both of us, probably calculating what the chances were of us both sleeping by the time he came back. "I'll be gone for one minute. Stand with your ball near Stephanie. You're doing lifts until I get back."

"Gotcha," Val said, walking over to me. Tank watched her start, then walked out.

I shouldn't have been surprised that she kept with it, but I was. I would have stopped the second he walked out and relaxed at the other leg press machine. "Want a break?" I asked her.

She looked at me, a look of disapproving older sister etched on her face. "Suck it up, Plum. You're sitting for goodness sake! If I can do it, you can definitely do it."

"Not without coffee," I told her.

"You're just not producing enough endorphins," she told me. "I'll give you a pass today since you had a rough day yesterday with the apartment and the bruise and all, but tomorrow I'll get a stun gun of my own to chase you down with if you don't snap out of it."

She'd give me a pass? I found myself getting really angry about that comment. Wackiness again? "Valerie, I've never sparred before, nor have I seen what real sparring is, except on wrestling, but if you even think about trying to chase me, I'll take you down on those mats over there," I said pointing to RangeMan's sparring area.

She didn't look phased. She actually grinned a little. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Right," I gracefully snorted.

Tank came back and quickly I lifted my legs again in the machine. "Twenty-seven," I breathed out, pushing the leg press down. He shook his head.

He had the CD in a red jewel case in one hand, and a remote in another hand. He slipped the CD into a small stereo that was installed in the wall. I didn't even notice it until he put the CD into it. Suddenly that Ludacris song was playing through the speakers on every wall.

He handed the remote to Valerie and told her to sit at the machine next to me. She started doing leg presses while flipping through songs. She settled on Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot, and Tank's face grew into a huge smile. I had my eyebrows raised and a small smirk on my face when he finally realized I was watching him. His blank face took over and he seemed to push his Lula thoughts to the back of his mind.

I didn't hear Ranger enter the room, but I knew he was near when the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up. He raised an eyebrow, I assumed at the music.

"Lula made Valerie a CD," I told him.

"Of course she did," Ranger said, looking at Tank.

Tank shrugged his shoulders, and continued counting reps for Val.

"Babe," Ranger said. "You're all mine today. I delegated my responsibilities to the men, so we can work on Anthony Marco and E.J. McAllister. We can also check in with Connie and see if she has anything for you."

"You're going to help me with my skips?" I asked him.

"Don't sound so surprised. We've worked together plenty of times," he told me. "While we're out today we can talk about your doing four total leg presses while I was gone."

I tried to look insulted, but I knew he probably had cameras in here as well. "I thought about asking Tank if he had a pillow, but Valerie threatened me that if I didn't get serious she'd fight me on the mats."

Ranger smiled and looked over at Val. "You looking for a job?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

When we finished, Hector and Woody left their post at the door, and Hal came to take my sister back to her place. Tank went home, as he had to bring Lula to work and was not obligated to exercise this week, and Ranger stayed behind to do thirty minutes on the treadmill. I went up to seven to shower and put the coffee on.

After showering, I made my way into the bedroom and checked the closet. The sudden realization that I didn't take any clothes from my apartment with me hit hard. Not only was Ranger going to be my babysitter today, but we were going to look alike, as the majority of clothes I had here were black, and had RangeMan embroidered on them. I wasn't sure if the clothes at my apartment would be wearable after everything that happened yesterday, and after a quick mental calculation of available credit on my Macy's card I figured I could afford a pair of jeans and maybe three summer tops from the clearance section. Just in time for the Fall.

I pulled on my bra and panties, topping them off with a black long-sleeved polo shirt with the RangeMan logo above my left breast, and black jeans. I grabbed a webbed utility belt and put it around my waist, deciding to take a little of Valerie's go big or go home attitude with me. I went to my purse taking out my pepper spray, stun gun, my Smith and Wesson, and cuffs, tucking them into the various pockets in the belt. I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed a box of Tastykakes out of my cabinet. I took one out to eat now with coffee and another to put in the utility belt for later.

I ate the Tastykake and brought my coffee to the bathroom where I put on lip gloss, foundation, and few coats of mascara. I spritzed myself with Dolce Vita and moussed my hair. I ran into a sweaty, shirtless Ranger as I walked out of the bathroom. Lucky for him my coffee was almost gone because that would've been one hell of a burn. "Babe," he said, giving me a quick kiss before stripping down totally for his shower.

"We're going to McAllister's after breakfast," Ranger said from the shower. "I'll talk to the son and you can tackle the Marino girl."

Fine with me, though I'm sure she'd prefer being tackled by Ranger. "Did you research those chemicals in E.J.'s arrest record, or the ones involved with GD?" I asked him.

"I had a contact email me some information this morning," he said. "The kid will either fill in the blanks willingly or I'll have to encourage him."

I've seen firsthand Ranger's style of encouragement. It involved a Maglite and knee caps.

I walked out of the bathroom and could immediately smell sausage. Ella must have slipped in not too long ago.

I walked into the kitchen where Ella left out a fresh fruit platter, egg white omelets, wheat toast, and the sausages. I'm sure it was a healthy turkey or soy version of the sausage I really wanted, but at that moment, I didn't care. I had very little to eat the day before and the Tastykake I just had wasn't going to tide me over.

I took two plates out of the cabinet and filled mine up, not waiting to sit before I started eating. I felt two warm, strong hands wrap around me and I closed my eyes and leaned my head back into a warm, Bulgari scented chest. His hands moved down to my hips. "Mmm, Tank, you should go before Ranger catches you."

I felt Ranger's hands tighten before he spun me around. He pulled me into him and gave a small chuckle. "I don't share, Babe." He grabbed a piece of toast from my plate and took a bite.

"What makes you think that I share?" I said as I grabbed the toast back and moved my plate out of his reach. As I walked to the dining room table, I glanced back and saw he was grinning while filling up his own plate with fruit and eggs.

"Speaking of not sharing," Ranger said. "I have to call Morelli."

"Sheesh, that's quite a segue," I said, rolling my eyes. I walked right into that one. "Why do you have to call him?"

"They have the computer and the tape from your answering machine. I want to know if they found out anything we haven't."

"What have you found out?"

"We've got the owner of the computer we found in your ceiling. The police went to check her out, and it ended up being an eighty year old woman who uses it for viewing family photos. They would have investigated it further, but she had a receipt showing she dropped the computer off at McAllister's a few days ago. Since this is a police investigation now, I told them everything about the packages. I talked to Ed McAllister and told him he should also give whatever information he knows to the police. I did not tell him about the computer; we're going there to do that now."

"That should be a cheerful conversation," I said, finishing my last piece of melon. "Hi Mr. McAllister, you know your son? Yeah, the only guy you have working in your fix-it department who has a strange love for chemicals? Well he's been naughty again! Oh and by the way, we still know nothing about the packages being delivered."

"We may know something," Ranger said. "You'll need to talk to Jenny Marino today. You can talk to her at McAllister's and invite her to lunch. We'll have a meeting here before you go to get the facts straight and figure out where the holes are."

Our conversation was cut short by my cell phone ringing. The ring tone signaled it was my parents' number. I sighed. "Maybe it's Grandma."

"You should pick it up and let her know you're okay," he told me.

"I'm sure Valerie already did that," I said as I stood up and walked over to my purse.

"Hello?"

"Stephanie Plum," my mother said in a demanding tone, "What happened in your apartment last night? I heard there were men there in full body protection suits. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It was nothing big. Just a broken window and some chemical fumes."

"Chemical fumes? What kind of chemical?"

"I'm not sure, the police are checking it out."

Mom muttered something, and I'm pretty sure she was making the sign of the cross. "You're still coming to dinner, right?"

"Yes, Ranger and I will be there."

"Oh," she said slowly.

"What?"

"Nothing, I look forward to seeing the two of you. I just heard that you were talking to Joseph last night, and that you looked comfortable together."

Exhausted was more like it. "I'm not getting into that right now," I said through gritted teeth.

"Six o'clock," she said and added, "don't be late," before hanging up.

I rolled my eyes and dropped the phone into my purse. I've been going to dinner there multiple times a week for years. Even before I was born I knew the six o'clock rule. If you were going to dinner at my parents' house, and you were just a minute late, dinner would be ruined.

"Your mother?" Ranger asked.

"How'd you guess?"

"You were showing your teeth the way animals do when they're about to attack." He looked at my utility belt. "Is that a Tastykake?"

.

After a quick stop on the fifth floor, we made our way down to the RangeMan garage. Ranger clicked open the locks of his Cayenne, and we were on our way to McAllister's Computer Repair Shop to talk to E.J. and Jenny Marino.

It was a little past eight in the morning and the pink neon OPEN sign to McAllister's had just turned on as we pulled into the space in front. It was a cool morning and I had on my RangeMan windbreaker which complimented the other RangeMan clothing I wore. Ranger had on black cargoes and a long-sleeved black shirt. He looked hot in a threatening sort of way. I looked plain and the only thing about me that screamed danger was the gun in my utility belt and the fact that I looked like I didn't know how to use it.

Ed McAllister was sitting at the customer service desk when we walked in. He peered over his bifocals, which were sitting at the end of his nose, and gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Carlos, nice to see you. Have you solved that little issue?" he asked hopefully.

"We're working on it. We need to speak to your son E.J., as well as Jennifer Marino."

"E.J. took the morning off," Ed said. "And Jenny has yet to show up. She's usually here at seven thirty to open the shop by eight."

"Did she call to say she'd be late?" I asked.

"No," he said looking at me as if he just realized I was there, "and she's never late. Punctuality is key to running a successful business."

"Have you tried calling her?" Ranger asked.

"Yes, of course. She doesn't have a landline phone, she only has a cell phone that's always with her. She didn't answer it this morning."

I had a sick feeling in my gut. Ed took out a business card and wrote down her phone number and address, which we already had, but it was a nice thought. I thanked him and tucked it into my pocket.

"Mr. McAllister, were you aware a computer from your inventory was found in the home of one of my associates, hooked up to recording devices?" Ranger asked.

McAllister looked stunned. "I... are you sure? How do you know it was from here?"

"The police tracked down the owner and she verified that it was with this store from a drop-off receipt."

"Then we were robbed," McAllister said. "That's your job, to protect this business."

"It is RangeMan's job to protect your business, and we have extra surveillance that indicated no sign of a robbery. In my associate's place of residence, not only were there cameras, there were chemicals."

"Chemicals?" McAllister's face was as white as a sheet. "What do you mean?"

"They're still being tested, but we have reason to believe that your son may be involved from a previous arrest involving these specific chemicals. Have you talked to him this morning?" Ranger asked.

"He was never convicted. It was proven that they were chemicals we use here with the computers. And no, he scheduled this morning off a couple of weeks ago. Should I call him?" he asked warily, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his forehead.

"You might want to," Ranger told him. "What time do you expect him in?"

"After lunch, about one o'clock."

"We'll see him then. Don't be surprised if the police show up."

As we got into the car Ranger made a phone call. "Get a car to E.J. McAllister's place of residence. If he's there, bring him into a holding room. I want an extensive background check performed immediately. I want to know his residences, detailed criminal record, bank records, friends, lovers, family, anyone he has ever met I want to know. Find out any and all email addresses and try to hack into them." He listened for a couple of beats and continued. "Get a line on Jennifer Marino and call me back when you find her."

"Something doesn't feel right," I said as he hung up.

"I agree," he said. "Cops are here."

Two blue-and-whites pulled up behind us, and a sleek-looking black sedan pulled in behind them. Feds. Ranger nodded to the officers as he pulled away from the curb. "Let's go see Connie while we wait for my guys to do their jobs."

Ranger pulled his Cayenne into the space in front of the bonds office. He pulled out his phone to make another call so I hopped out, hitched my purse over my shoulder, and took a deep breath to prepare myself. I had a feeling if my mother and Valerie knew about my apartment, than Connie and Lula would know, too.

I opened the bonds door and saw Vinnie sitting at Connie's desk. "Did you demote yourself?" I asked him.

"Funny. I ran late so Connie went to the courthouse to make bail for the idiots who were arrested over night. Gimpy McFilesLikeShit still isn't here."

I assumed he meant Lula. "Well I'm here, do you have anything for me?"

"Depends. I don't want you coming anywhere near me if you're covered in that shit they found in your apartment."

"I stayed at RangeMan last night and I showered, but hey, you can go look for my skips yourself," I said turning around to walk out.

"Is that Ranger out there?" Vinnie asked.

I turned back around, giving Vinnie my best Burg glare. "Maybe."

He smiled and ran his hand through his slicked back black hair. "I have a few skips for him, and maybe if you're nice I'll throw in your new skip."

"If I'm nice?" I said, putting my hand on my hip, feeling it rest on my gun.

"Oh brother, put that thing away. Sit at the desk until Connie gets back. I don't like being this out in the open. Connie's the people person." What Vinnie actually meant was that there was probably a bookie, pimp, or some other debt collector out looking for him. Connie's people skills consisted of a gun taped under her desk and a well known reputation for being in the mob family. No one wanted to mess with Connie.

We heard a door close and saw Tank get of his SUV. He walked over to get Lula out from the passenger seat. Vinnie stood up and handed me a file. "Here's your skip, she can handle the desk."

I looked at Vinnie. "Are you running from Lula or Tank?"

"Does it matter? Here, give these files to Ranger. And freakin' bring Anthony Marco in before we forfeit the bond money. I'm not running a charity here," Vinnie said, handing me Ranger's files and going into his office, locking the door.

I grabbed Connie's chair and pushed it aside so Lula would be able to glide right in.

Ranger got out of the car and helped Tank with Lula's chair. I watched Tank lift Lula out of the car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him. He smiled back at her and they shared a sweet kiss. I smiled and sighed. They were in love. I shifted my gaze and locked eyes with Ranger. I wondered what he was thinking. He grinned and winked at me. I was glad to be holding onto the chair. Ranger had an intimidating presence, and an even more intimidating reputation, but his winks should be registered as lethal weapons.

I rubbed my cheeks and watched Ranger hold the door for Tank and Lula.

"Hey, girl," Lula said to me. "Where's Connie?"

"She's at the courthouse," I told her. "You're in a good mood today."

"I am. I just love waking up in my Tanky's arms."

Tank's posture stiffened and he looked from me to the doorway where Ranger stood, silently daring one of us to say something. I assumed 'Tanky' wasn't something Tank wanted to be called in front of Ranger.

Ranger looked like he was working hard to control a muscle in his jaw from turning into a smile.

"Vinnie said you should sit here until Connie gets back," I said to Lula.

"Are you leaving?" she asked me.

"Yep, places to go, people to see."

"Uh huh, well stay out of trouble. I can't be there to protect your skinny ass for another few weeks." She looked over at Ranger. "I'm holding you personally responsible for her."

Ranger shifted his focus toward Lula.

"Not that I ever doubted your ability to protect her," Lula quickly said.

Ranger and Tank talked for a few minutes outside after we left the bonds office. They seemed to talk in a code I was sure came from years of friendship as well as military training. When they finished, Ranger led me to the Cayenne, opening my door for me. We held hands as I slid into my seat.

"Any news?" I asked him.

"Tank underground contacts don't sell Sure Guard anymore, so we're branching out our search. And, the police were able to get a witness for the guy who came into your apartment: the crazy lady who rides the elevator for hours on end."

"Mrs. Bestler?"

"Yes. She gave a description of a man in leather clothes and a full helmet, which he never took off. She said he was carrying a large black bag with him, and he asked for your floor. She was still operating the elevator when he came back twenty minutes later. She said he left on a motorcycle. It had to have happened right after he got you with the Sure Guard."

"Well, that's just great," I said, slumping back in the seat.

Ranger let go of my hand and leaned into the car. He lightly touched my chin and angled my head to look at the bruise on my cheek, kissing it gently. I looked up at him and saw a range of emotions flash through his eyes. Sadness, love, and anger. He gave my lips a quick kiss and shut the door, coming around to the other side of his Cayenne.

"I'll call Jenny Marino, maybe she's playing hooky. I'll get her to meet me for lunch," I said pulling out my phone and the card Ed McAllister gave to me.

"I'll bet anything she doesn't answer," Ranger said, watching me intently. "McAllister said she was very punctual. I think our link to all of this is missing."

I thought so, too.

The phone rang about four times and then a frantic voice answered. "Jenny, hello? Jenny!" a man's voice screamed.

I recognized the voice. "Anthony Marco?"

"Who is this? Where's Jenny?"

"Anthony, this is Stephanie Plum, why don't _you_ tell me where Jenny is, and why you have her cell phone."

"Speaker," Ranger quietly said.

I clicked the button for speaker phone, as Ranger grabbed a small black device and USB hook up from his glove compartment. He reached under my seat and took out a netbook computer.

"I don't know where Jenny is. I'm sick of this fucking game. I can't play his stupid fucking game anymore."

"What game, Anthony? What's going on?"

"You know what's going on, you chased me yesterday and that fucking maniac E.J. sprayed you with that shit."

Ranger's head slowly rose from the computer screen. His body tensed. He put the small black device on my phone, and hooked the USB device into the computer. His blank face took over, but he clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Anthony, you have to tell me everything you know, and especially what's going on with those envelopes you've been picking up."

"I can't," he started saying. "He said he'd kill her. He said he'd ruin me."

"Keep him on longer, I'm about thirty seconds from a location," Ranger muttered.

"How would he ruin you, Anthony? I know people who can help keep you safe and who can find Jenny. I will do whatever I can to help."

"Shit, I can't tell you, not over the phone. I have to go. I have to find her. I'm sorry you were hurt yesterday and I'm glad you're okay, but you have to stay away. I have to finish this."

"Anthony, stop," I yelled into the phone, but I knew he'd hung up. Ranger knew it, too.

"He was on Vanderbilt," Ranger said. "That's Jenny Marino's street. One guess as to where our man is."

"What if he ran again?"

"I'll find him," is all Ranger said as he took off down Hamilton toward Jenny's house.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Sorry everyone if you received an email saying that a new chapter (Chapter fifteen) was (re)posted. I mistakenly deleted Chapter 1 and after having a moderate panic attack (and a good cry), figured out how to fix it. I hope those of you who are reading the story like it so far. I enjoy reading your reviews._**  
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**Chapter 16**

Jenny Marino lived in a single story, yellow-sided house on Vanderbilt. She had a small driveway that was empty, and there were no cars on the street. A wooden porch swing moved lightly with the wind, showing no obvious signs of distress from the house behind it. We walked to the door and tried the handle. Locked. Ranger took out a tool and within seconds the door clicked open. He stepped inside and took out his gun. I grabbed my stun gun from the utility belt and held it slack at my waist. I had a feeling Anthony was long gone.

We walked through a small closet-type entry room and through a doorway to Jenny's living room. The room was absolutely trashed. Couch cushions were ripped up, photos were taken off the walls a thrown all over the floor, and her bookshelf was ripped apart. Looking through the archway to the rest of the house, we saw that every other room was like that. Ranger kept going through the house, and I stayed in the living room. After a couple of minutes, Ranger came back into the living room and put his gun away. "I don't think you're having lunch with Jenny today."

"Do you think Anthony still has her cell phone?" I asked him.

"Only one way to find out," he said. "Call it."

I took out my phone and redialed her number. A buzzing sound came from a bedroom just off of the living room. I walked in and closed my phone. Her hot pink cell phone lay on the bed, on top of a picture of her and Anthony.

Ranger stood behind me, his eyes scanning the room. He reached into his own utility belt and grabbed two rectangular shaped surgical masks and two sets of rubber gloves, splitting them up between us. "Don't touch anything else," he said as we slipped on the gear. "If you see anything strange or start to feel light-headed, let me know immediately."

"Okie dokie."

Ranger walked to the front door, checking out toward the street. "Marco couldn't have kidnapped her. He sounded too distraught, which leads me to believe the house looked like this before he came in."

"How did he get in?" I asked behind him.

"The windows are secure and the back door is locked. I think he has a key. He came in and locked up when he left."

"I thought she took out a restraining order against him," I said

"He runs by the mailbox of her work every day, he's not complying with it either way."

"But why would he come here?"

"To check up on her. If he loves her and thought she was in danger somehow, he'd try to protect her."

"They're not dating," I said, getting a little agitated.

Ranger looked my way and smirked. "When had that ever stopped me from looking for you?"

"Okay, okay," I said. Before Ranger became my boyfriend or whatever he is, he was like my guardian angel. Maybe Anthony was Jenny's.

"Let's look at this from Anthony Marco's point of view from the time he came into the house." Ranger said.

I turned around, envisioning walking into a loved one's house and seeing it completely destroyed. "He came in the front door, probably after ringing the bell a few times, and walked into the living room. It's a mess. Red flags start going off and he screams her name, running to the room she probably used the most."

"The bedroom," Ranger said behind me.

We moved to the bedroom. I continued trying to picture what Anthony went through. "He yells her name again, looks into the closet, maybe looks through the drawers or under the bed, for any kind of clue as to where she may be."

"We found the phone on the bed. When you called he was probably in here, at the height of panic," Ranger said.

"Yeah. The phone rings and he answers it saying her name. It wasn't her, it was the bounty hunter. He starts freaking out. _'E.J. said he would kill her.'_ He must have come here in the first place because of that threat."

Ranger and I poked through the bedroom drawers and closet, finding nothing, and moved into the rest of the house.

"He hung up the phone with you, probably knowing you'd be here to look for him within minutes," Ranger said as we walked into the kitchen. "He ran through the dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room looking for something, anything that would give away who grabbed her or where she is. It's possible that he found something and took it with him."

"I don't see anything of interest. I don't even see a computer. All we have is her phone."

Ranger pulled Jenny's pink phone out of his pocket. It was in a clear plastic bag.

"When did you grab that?" I asked.

"Babe."

Within twenty minutes, Ranger had a crew of men over, extensively searching the house for anything of interest. Hector took Jenny's phone back to RangeMan to see if he could find anything, Ranger thought it would be our best bet. I went door to door with Lester asking if anyone had seen Jenny in the last twenty-four hours. The people who had seen her said that she came home the previous night around nine, but they hadn't seen her since.

After a while, I found myself sitting on Jenny's front porch, listening to the quiet of the neighborhood. To the normal person it looked like a nice, safe, family friendly area. To me or one of the large men in black in the house, we knew that a woman was abducted and her house was torn apart. I felt sad for Anthony and worried for Jenny. Ranger had men watching E.J.'s house, and his extensive background check would be ready by lunch time.

Not being of any use to the house search, I went to find Ranger. "Not to cramp RangeMan's style," I said when I found him, "but if I'm just going to hang around, I might as well borrow the car and grab my skip."

"I'll go with you," Ranger said. "Give me three minutes to give the men instructions."

I walked to the car and thought about eating the Tastykake in my utility belt, but instead took out the file on my skip. I opened it up and groaned when I saw the last name Diggery. It seemed every few months I had to chase a Diggery down, specifically Simon Diggery, a fifty-something grave robber who owned a gigantic pet snake. This file was for Simon's nineteen year old daughter, Cynthia.

Ranger came out of the house and headed toward the car. He opened his door and sat next to me. "Who do you have?"

"Cynthia Diggery. Nineteen. Arrested for soliciting an officer."

Ranger grinned, "I wondered when one of us would have to get a Diggery kid. Does it say the officer's name?"

I looked down the front page summary. "Nope, why?"

"It's always nice to know what makes certain cops tick." He took the folder and glanced through the pages. "She looks like her father," he said. "This shouldn't be too hard. She lives five minutes away at the end of South Broad Street; we'll grab her, bring her in, and then head back to RangeMan. I have someone watching the McAllister residence as well as the store. If E.J. makes a move, we'll be there to pick him up."

Ranger started the car and we made our way to Cynthia Diggery's.

We pulled into a parking lot across the street from the house. She lived in a light green, two-story corner house which was surrounded by a rusted metal gate. The grass in the yard behind the gate had to have been over a foot high.

"The grass looks like it hasn't been cut in years," I said to Ranger. "It's so high I wouldn't be surprised to find a few bodies lying around in there."

"I was more thinking rats or snakes," Ranger said.

I shivered and felt the blood drain from my face. "You're not serious, right?"

He smiled. "You're telling me that you'd rather find a dead body than a rat?"

"Dead bodies are dead! Rats and snakes are alive! Plus, her dad's pet snake is infamous. You're going to have to go in without me."

"Maybe the rats and snakes will be too busy eating the dead bodies to notice you walking through."

"Gross," I told him. "You worry me sometimes."

"The feeling is mutual, Babe," he said, still smiling.

"Tell me something. Are you really missing work to babysit me?"

"No. I'd like to think of it as spending extra time with you," he said. "Plus, I hardly ever get the chance to watch you in action."

"I was actually hoping I'd get to see _you_ in action," I said to him.

"Didn't you see enough of me in action last night?" he asked.

I could feel myself blush. "Jeez, you know what I meant."

"I'd like to see where you are with your apprehension technique," he said. "If you're going to train with me, I need to gauge where you are with where you need to be."

"I haven't agreed to any sort of training!"

"I know," he said, "but you will."

"Guess again."

He raised an eyebrow that peeked out over his sunglasses. "That's too bad. I was hoping I'd get to rub you down every night."

"I told you, you _can_ do it every night!"

He turned toward me and tucked a curl behind my ear. "If I massaged you on a normal day, you'd think it felt good, but it wouldn't compare to a massage after a day of training." He gently moved my head closer to his. "I would make it worth your while," he whispered in my ear, kissing my neck.

My thoughts started to cloud. I wanted to tell him that it felt amazing anytime his hands were on me. Though, the thought of a happy ending massage from Ranger had my toes curling and my body overheating.

If I wasn't close to agreeing to it before, he would've had me with it there.

Ranger leaned forward in his seat and took out the gun from underneath. "Is your gun loaded?" he asked, hooking his own onto his belt.

"I haven't shot it since the last time you put bullets in it, so I assume they're still in there." Not that I was planning on using my gun anyway.

He stilled and looked at me.

I sighed and took my gun out of the utility belt. I opened it and checked for bullets. "Yes, they're there. Happy?"

He didn't say anything as he got out of the car. I followed behind him as he walked up to the gate and quietly surveyed the area. No snakes, rats or bodies. At least, there weren't any in the open.

Ranger lifted a hand, signaling me to open the gate. I took that as the start of his observation on my technique. I swore that if Cynthia Diggery made me look like an idiot, I'd pull a three stooges move on her nose that would make every Burg male proud.

There was a cement walkway from the gate to the porch, but the grass was leaning so far over that the path was hardly visible. I guessed that if it were sticking straight up, it would be up to my knees. There had to be a desperate ten-year old in the neighborhood who would cut it for a few bucks.

"How about you take the back door," I said to Ranger.

He nodded. "Give me twenty seconds to get in place."

I counted to twenty and walked up the steps. Cynthia didn't have a doorbell, so I rapped on the door.

I heard the sound of footsteps coming down stairs. Cynthia peeked through the curtains on the top half of the door and rolled her eyes. She moved to open the door and disengaged four deadbolt locks. Seemed like overkill to me, but with a family like the Diggery's maybe she needed it to keep the rest out.

"Cynthia Diggery?" I asked as she opened the door.

"Yeah," she said, looking me up and down. Ranger was right, she really did resemble her dad. Her brown hair was thin and wiry, and was cut short, hanging just below her ears. Her skin wasn't as leathery as her dad's, yet, but it was on its way. She wore pink-striped pajama pants and a red t-shirt that stopped just above her belly button. "You're the bounty hunter."

"Fugitive Apprehension Agent," I said, handing her my card. "I'm Stephanie Plum and represent Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date."

"I told them I couldn't make it Monday and Tuesday. I work and have class. So, what did they do? Gave me a date I couldn't make. So I didn't go. Fuck them," she said, spitting toward the side of the porch. She was just as classy as her dad, too.

"If you come back with me we can reschedule your court date. Explain to them about school and work," I told her.

"Sure," she said. "Let me get my purse and shoes."

There was a straight view from the front door to the back door. I didn't see Ranger, but knew he was there. Ranger was like smoke. She picked up a purse next to the back door, and slipped on a pair of sandals over her socks. She looked back at me, ripped the back door open and ran.

Why me?

"Out the back!" I yelled, hoping Ranger heard me. I ran through her house and out the back door.

Ranger stood at the gate opening, arms crossed, daring her to try to pass. Cynthia Diggery looked panicked and started backing up.

I ran up behind her and took out my stun gun. "Don't make me stun you, Cynthia. I have no problem dragging you back to the car."

Cynthia swore and stomped her foot. "I can't do this today!"

Ranger stepped forward and she shut her mouth. I grabbed her arms and cuffed her wrists.

"Do you want to take her to the car, or do you want to lock up?" I asked Ranger.

"Your call."

"Take her to the car, I'll just be a minute."

I locked what I could of her locks, and we took my skip to the police station.

"So, what did you think?" I asked Ranger as the guard manning the desk signed over the body receipt for Cynthia Diggery.

"Not bad," he said. "Personally, I don't chat with fugitives. I go in, say who I am, cuff them and go."

"Yeah, but that's so impersonal." I took the receipt from the guard and turned around to leave.

"You don't have to get personal with every skip. You don't need to hear their sob story."

"I don't get personal. I can't help it if people want to tell me their sob stories."

Ranger looked past me and nodded to someone. I turned and saw Morelli walking with Eddie Gazarra. "I need to talk to Morelli," Ranger said. "My team should be out of Marino's house now, time for his team to move in." He walked toward Joe and Eddie. Eddie took a file from Joe and bumped fists with Ranger, a move I've never seen Eddie do. He left them and smiled toward me.

"You're going to give your mother a heart attack one day," he said to me.

"You're going to give me one if you keep trying to be cool like that."

"The bump?" he asked. "My kid taught it to me. I thought I'd teach it to everyone here, but they already knew it."

I smiled. He was such a dad.

"Jeez, that's some shiner," Eddie said looking at my cheek.

"Rub it in, Gazarra."

"Sorry. I heard you had a bandage on it last night from the team at your apartment. Didn't know what was under it."

"Anything new on my apartment? I'm a little low on clothes."

Eddie looked pained. "I think you're going to have to get new clothes, Steph. As far as I know, they bagged up your mattress, clothing and sheets for testing. It might be a while before you can get in there, too. Why do I always get to be the bearer of bad news?"

Gee, how terrible _he_ must feel. "Sorry to upset you, Eddie." I took a quick mental inventory of the clothes I probably lost. Way more than I could afford to replace.

"You know that's not what I meant. I'm just glad you're not crying about it."

I was thinking about it. I think I was beyond tears, actually I was closer to laughing. I gave Eddie a small grin. "Such is a day in the life of Stephanie Plum."

"When it rains, it pours."

That time I did laugh. "No shit." I looked over where Ranger and Morelli stood. "I'll see you later, Eddie."

"Hey, if you're looking to make some extra dough, Shirley and I could use a sitter Friday night," Eddie said.

"Wow, look at the time. I think Ranger needs me to work that night. Plus, I might be coming down with a cold. And my car is planning on breaking down that night. Sorry!" I said walking away fast.

"Chicken," Eddie yelled back.

Damn right I was chicken. The last time I caved in and watched his kids, they decided to tattoo my feet and legs with sharpies when I was sleeping. The time before that they cut off two inches of my hair. Okay, I fell asleep that time, too. The Gazarra's are exhausting!

I walked over to Ranger and Morelli. Morelli looked at my bruise and I saw his eyes wince slightly. "Anything new?" I asked them.

"It was Soman on the bed," Morelli said. "Just got the lab reports back."

"What's Soman? Is it better than GD?"

"It's the same thing. GD is the street name for Soman," Morelli said.

I looked at Ranger. His eyes looked grim. "You were right."

He didn't respond.

"I'll put in a call to dispatch," Morelli said. "We'll get a couple blue-and-whites over to the Marino house."

"We have to go," Ranger said to me.

"Okay, I have to swing by the office and give Connie Cynthia Diggery's receipt," I reminded him.

"Before you go," Joe said to me, "can I talk to you for a minute?" he looked at Ranger. "Alone?"

Ranger kissed my forehead and walked away.

Joe tilted his head toward a doorway and walked toward it. I followed him through a door and back to a messy wood and metal desk that had a nameplate with Det. J. Morelli printed on it. He sat in his chair and motioned toward the visitor seat across from him.

I sat on the arm of the chair. "What's up?"

"I wanted to touch base with you without anyone else around."

"Anyone else, meaning Ranger?"

"Just anyone else."

I noticed he wasn't looking me in the eyes, but at my bruise. I put my hand over it and his eyes locked with mine.

"Seems that he isn't doing much better at protecting you than I did," Joe said sourly.

"He wasn't with me when I got this bruise. I was chasing a skip. What are you getting at Joe?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry, forget I said that. I hate seeing that bruise on your face." His forearms were lying on his desk and his hands were clenched.

"I'm pretty sure I passed out before hitting the ground anyway."

He looked pained and his eyes flashed with Italian temper, but he was still in control. I figured it was because he was at work that he wasn't yelling and flailing his arms toward me. "You're going to have to settle down sometime." He took a breath. "Even if it's with him."

I didn't say anything. I wasn't planning on being a bounty hunter for the rest of my life, obviously I'd have to settle down even if it was just me and one of Rex's great-great-great-grandchildren.

"He's still treating you okay?" Joe asked, moving on.

"Yep." I didn't like him being on that side of the desk. I felt like I was being reprimanded in the principal's office. "I have to go, Joe."

"Okay," he stood up as I did and put his hand on my arm. "Cupcake, I just want you to be safe. The feds are now involved in this case and have all but shut us out. Please be careful. The preliminary report on your mattress showed that you had over four times the lethal dose of Soman soaked into it. Ranger told me about McAllister and I'll do whatever I can to help find him and the girl."

I sighed and took his hand from my arm, pulling him into a friendly hug. "Thanks, Joe."

"Hey," he yelled to me as I was walking away. "Is that a Tastykake in your belt?"

.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about you and Joe working together." I said as I got into the Cayenne with Ranger. "It seems almost too friendly."

"When we've worked together in the past, it was for a common goal. Your protection. The only thing different is your position." He pulled the car out of the driveway and we made our way back to the bonds office.

Still, I wondered how Morelli felt about it all. We had just started talking again after a long freeze out. As if Ranger read my feelings on the whole thing, he put his hand on my thigh and said, "I wouldn't worry too much about Morelli. He voiced his feelings to me last night."

"I didn't know alpha males discussed feelings with each other."

"It's not something we make a habit of. His main concern is your happiness. True, he'd rather see you with himself, but he knew that after so many years of strained commitment, that it wasn't going to happen."

"I think we knew that for a long time but didn't want to talk about it. We kept putting it off."

"In the future," Ranger said, "if you ever feel that way with me, like things aren't going to work, I expect you to talk to me about it."

"Ditto," I said, hoping we'd never have to have that conversation.

"Morelli will be fine. Word is he's been dating recently."

"Really?" I asked. I couldn't believe I was hearing my Burg gossip from Ranger. "Who?"

"An EMT. She came on scene last night after you left. It must be relatively new because they were overly professional with one another, but when they thought no one was looking they became friendlier.

My eyebrows rose a little higher, I wanted a name.

"Sorry Babe, that's all I know."

I thought about it, and I was happy for Joe. I hoped this woman was good for him, and that maybe she'd be the one to give him the babies and home life I knew he wanted. At least with an EMT he wouldn't stress as much about her job. "I think that's good," I said.

We pulled up to the office as Connie was tucking Lula's wheelchair into the trunk of her car.

I jumped out of the Cayenne and ran up to Connie, who was muttering to herself in Italian. "Why'd she have to go a break her leg?" she asked me.

"I don't know, but I feel partly responsible."

"Fine, then you fit this damn thing in the trunk."

A muscular mocha latte arm reached between us and effortlessly adjusted the chair into the car. "Is Vinnie in?" Ranger asked Connie.

"Yeah, in his hole of an office. Thanks for the help."

Ranger nodded and went into the office.

"Before you go, can you please take the body receipt for Cynthia Diggery for me?" I asked Connie.

"Okay, give it to me and go keep Lula company. I'll be right back."

I gave Connie the body receipt and she walked into the office. When I opened the driver's door to the car, I found Lula in a similar state of distress talking to Connie's radio.

"It's not working," she said to me as I sat down.

I grabbed the keys that were sitting in the ignition and turned the car on, starting the radio.

"I was going to try that next," Lula said as she tweaked the radio.

As I was going to ask her where they were going, my phone started ringing. I lifted it out of my purse and noticed the caller id only registered that a 'restricted' number was calling.

"Hello?"

"Hey Stephanie Plum, I heard you were looking for me."

My heart skipped a beat. "I am, E.J. Where are you?"


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Special thanks to jago-ji for coming to my rescue and helping me review this chapter on such short notice.

Thanks to you, the reader, for putting up with me and my chapter issues. If you were able to read this chapter yesterday, read it again because it's slightly different.

**Chapter 17**

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey, Stephanie Plum, I heard you were looking for me."_

_My heart skipped a beat. "I am, E.J. Where are you?"_

"Maybe you should start by telling me why you were harassing my father this morning?"

"I wasn't harassing him, we were looking for you."

"Well, he called me, left over twenty messages in my voice mail telling me you and Carlos Mañoso were looking for me and not to come in. Why is that?"

I wondered why his dad would tell him not to come in. Maybe something to do with the feds? A father protecting his son? "Where are you, E.J.?"

"Now why would I tell you that?" he said in an annoyingly weasel-like voice.

Shit, where was Ranger with his little location tracer? "Fine, don't tell me where you are, tell me where Jenny is."

E.J. was silent for a few beats. "I don't know what you mean. She's not at work?"

I suddenly wished there was an app for strangling the person on the other end of the phone. "No, and her house was ransacked. Any idea how it got that way?"

"Motherf-"

I looked at the screen and noticed he disconnected. "Well, great."

Lula turned the radio off. "Girl, you have to update me on this story because I've been a few chapters behind ever since I broke my damn leg."

"I don't know if I have the time to explain everything," I told her, glancing at the door of the bonds office.

"Well, give me the fuckin' cliffs notes version," Lula demanded, hitting her hands on her purse. "I can't stand not being in on the action."

"In a minute," I told Lula when I noticed Connie and Ranger walking out of the office.

Connie handed me my check as we swapped places. She and Lula drove away and I pulled Ranger to the alley on the side of the office. "E.J. just called me."

I told him about the conversation and he asked to see my phone. He dialed a number. "Could you come back and take Stephanie to lunch with you? You can drop her off at RangeMan when you're finished."

"What the-"

Ranger closed my phone and pocketed it. "I have some work to do," he said. "Go to lunch with Lula and Connie. I'll see you back at RangeMan in an hour."

"Can I have my phone back?"

"When you get back to RangeMan."

I knew he was going to cut me out of something again. "What will you be doing?" I asked him.

"I have to check on a few things, then I'll grab lunch at the office and organize the information on Marco, Marino, and McAllister. We'll go over it when you get back."

We locked eyes and I trusted he would tell me about whatever he was going to do. I nodded my assent and looked around the alley. A few fallen leaves were dancing around the ground from the light breeze that swept through. Something felt different. "Are we getting old?" I asked him.

He grinned and gave a small head shake, probably trying to understand my train of thought. "Babe?"

"Not old in age, I mean. Old in thought, maybe? Have we been dating long enough that the thought of kissing in the alley is not exciting anymore? Are you over it? The excitement?"

He stood against the wall, put his hands on my waist lightly and pulled me in for a kiss. Moving a hand up to my head he pulled a move that reversed our positions. I was now against the wall and his leg was between mine. Our tongues touched and my fingers curled in the front of his pants pockets, pulling him closer. I felt tingles from my lips to my toes and we were both smiling when he backed away.

"We still got it," he said.

"Thank God. I was worried there for a minute."

We heard Connie's horn beep and exited the alley.

Lula rolled the passenger side window down and whistled. "Whatever you were doing back there you can finish later, I'm hungry!"

Ranger kissed my temple and walked to his car. I slipped into Connie's backseat, taking my utility belt off and sticking it in my purse.

"I lied," Lula said, "I don't know what you were doing back there, but I'd be damned if it didn't just make me totally forget food." She took her phone out of her purse. "Tank better be able to take some time off this afternoon."

"Oh, for the love of everything holy, can't you keep it in your pants for eight freakin' hours?" Connie asked, annoyed. She looked at me in the rear view mirror. "Every day, Tank picks her up for lunch and she comes back happy and tired."

"Don't hate me 'cause you ain't me," Lula said, laughing to herself clicking buttons away.

Connie rolled her eyes.

"We need to get Connie her own RangeMan." Lula said tucking her phone away.

"Yeah, just what I need. Some big, muscular, protective, sexy..." Connie trailed off. "Shit."

I figured I'd save Connie. "Where are we going for lunch?"

"There's a new chain restaurant that opened just up the road in Hamilton Township." Connie said. "We've been dying to check it out."

"What do they serve?" I asked.

"I think hot dogs," Lula said. They both chuckled.

I had a feeling there was something they weren't telling me. "What's the name of this place?"

"Well, you know how there's Hooters to accommodate the male crowd?" Connie asked. "Well, this place caters to the female crowd."

"And, what's the name of this place?" I asked again.

Connie and Lula started laughing. "Wieners," Lula said, gasping for air.

Oh boy.

We pulled into the parking lot of Wieners. It was a brick building with pink siding and an orange roof. The name was in large letters on the front and the 'I' was in the shape of a happy dancing hot dog wearing a G-string. The parking lot was almost packed to capacity.

"How long has this place been here?" I asked.

"Today is opening day," Lula said. "The first thousand customers get a free t-shirt."

And here I thought that going into a place like this was embarrassing enough. Now I get a t-shirt to show the world I ate here the very first day.

I helped Connie get Lula's wheelchair out of the trunk and we helped Lula get into it. As we came into the waiting area, a guy wearing a tank top that said WIENERS was handing out the free t-shirts, which had the same logo as his tank top. His jeans were so tight that his own wiener was perfectly sculpted against the material.

Connie went up and gave the hostess her name. She waved for us to follow.

I pushed Lula through the crowd to a table with a seat missing and wheeled her right in. The hostess took our drink orders and we checked out the scenery.

"I could eat here for every meal," Lula said, checking the waiters in their tight, package hugging jeans.

It looked like every female in Jersey was there for opening day. Not many males. I scanned the crowd some more and noticed my sister was there with some friends. They were laughing and ogling at the waiters (which wasn't so hard to do because the tables were strategically placed so that the waiter's package would be right at table-level). I realized this restaurant was like one large bachelorette party. Lula saw Valerie, too, and yelled over to her.

"Hey!" Valerie said, "isn't this place something? All of the men on display..." she turned all the way around to take in the scenery, "Wow."

"You're married," I reminded her, "and where are the babies?"

"With Mom. I told her I was going to bring Albert lunch. When I'm done here I'm going to walk down to his office and bring him a couple of wieners."

She sat with us for a couple minutes, telling Lula and Connie about working out at RangeMan. She also thanked Lula for the CD and they talked about a few of the songs. Connie and I sat there, not quite sure what to make of my sister going on about a song that consisted of the words "I'm into having sex, I ain't into makin' love."

"What ever happened to Sinatra? Dean Martin? Hell, Cyndi Lauper!" Connie said to them.

"Here's the difference between Sinatra and Fifty Cent," Lula said to Connie. "Like Fi'ty said in his song, he's into having sex, he ain't into makin' love. Valerie needs hard, bumpin' sex music to run. Sinatra is love makin' music, not runnin' music. With Ol' Blue Eyes, and don't give me that look, I know his nickname, so what? Anyway, with Ol' Blue Eyes, he sings music you want to relax to. Have a glass of wine and take a bath – that's Frankie. Valerie can't work out to that. She needs something to get her blood flowing."

"Okay, whatever," Connie said, then mumbled something about the downfall of music in America.

When Valerie left to rejoin her friends, we finally looked at our menus. They consisted of lunch and dinner items with suggestive names and photos. They even had penis-shaped noodles available on request if you wanted to liven up your pasta dish. I went safe and ordered a burger. Lula and Connie both ordered sausages. All orders came with french fries in the shape of, well, you get the picture.

While we ate I filled them in on Anthony Marco, the McAllister's and their Computer Repair Shop, the FBI, and Jenny Marino's disappearance.

"All that, plus you're taking Ranger to dinner at your parents' house tonight?" Lula asked.

"Yep, and I just found out Joe Morelli is dating an EMT."

Lula and Connie exchanged looks.

"You knew?" I asked.

"We heard something about it," Connie said. "Joyce Barnhardt came in to the office to ask Vinnie for her job back, and when he didn't give it to her she asked where you were. Said she wanted to make someone's life miserable."

"Don't worry," Lula said when I uttered a few colorful insults. "We told her you were busy with Ranger. That really pissed on her fire."

"Anyway," Connie continued, "she said that she knew Morelli was seeing some EMT and was really looking forward to rubbing it in your face."

After some more swearing and plotting Joyce's demise, we paid the bill and left a very hefty tip for our waiter Ricky, who either was a very lucky man, or an expert pants stuffer.

As Connie and I were struggling with Lula's wheelchair for the second time in the parking lot of Wieners, Lula got a call from Tank.

"Stephanie," Lula sang from the car. "Tank wants to talk to you."

Tank never called to chat, actually Tank never called period, so I knew something was wrong. I took the phone from Lula and took a deep breath. "Hi…"

Tank's voice was low and his words were slow. "Keep your face expressionless," he said, "and don't comment on anything I say. Lula doesn't need to know right now."

My heart was pounding and I felt dizzy. Something happened. "Okie doke, what's up?"

"The package was dropped off twenty minutes ago. Ranger and Cal were on scene and tried to apprehend Anthony Marco."

"Tried?"

"The motorcycle person came, threw a small explosive and fired a round off."

"Okay." I tried to keep my voice as level as possible, but noticed it kicked up a few octaves. Tank noticed this, too.

"They're fine. No serious injuries. Keep it cool and come back to RangeMan." Tank expelled some air, "he asked for you."

I closed the phone and gave it back to Lula.

"What did he want," she asked.

"Ranger needs me to go in and do some background checks," I blurted out. It was the first thing that came to my head.

Connie and I got Lula's chair into the trunk and she took me to RangeMan.

I ran past the guy at the front desk, who knew me well enough to know that I never signed in, and took the stairs up to the fifth floor. Tank was waiting for me.

"You said no serious injuries," I said to him. "But what about non-serious injuries? Where's Ranger?"

"He's on seven. Bobby's checking him over."

The only way to get to the seventh floor was the elevator and a key fob. Tank stepped aside so I could get to the elevator.

"How's Cal," I asked Tank.

"Bruised. Took a couple shots to the vest."

I inadvertently leaned against the wall to steady myself. "Was Ranger…"

"Ranger was not shot; the blast knocked him back about ten feet." The elevator door opened. "Call down here if either of you need something."

When the elevator opened on the seventh floor, Bobby was on the other side of it. My appearance on the other side didn't seem to startle him, so I assumed Tank called saying I was coming up.

"How is he?" I asked.

"His head is as hard as we thought it was," Bobby said, smiling. "He doesn't seem to have a concussion, but I think he needs to take it easy for at least a few hours. Try to get him to do that."

"Okay, I'll try."

Bobby stepped onto the elevator. "He has a headache, but took a pain reliever for it which should help. If either of you need something else, call me."

I watched as the elevator closed and went to Ranger's door. When the handle turned, allowing me to step in, the blank face I had been carrying disappeared. I smelled the Bulgari and heard him typing on his computer. I tried not to think about what would have happened if he were shot, and especially if he were shot and it didn't hit a vest. A sob escaped from my throat and I ran to his office.

Ranger was already looking up, watching me. The corners of his mouth tipped up into an almost-grin. He was holding the back of his head with what I realized was an ice pack, wrapped in a small towel.

"Just so you know," I said, relief flooding through my body, "There are easier ways to get out of dinner at my parents' house."

His eyebrow rose. "We're still going."

I walked behind him and took control of the ice pack, letting his arm relax. He angled his chair out and patted his thigh. I sat on his lap and hugged him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Physically, yes."

"Should you be lying down?"

"Babe."

"Bobby said..."

"That I should be taking it easy. This is the best I can do right now."

I looked at his computer screen. Information on Anthony Marco took up one side of the screen, the other side had Edward McAllister Jr.

"Was anyone in the repair shop when all of this happened?"

"Ed McAllister closed the shop early today, about an hour after the police and feds left. There's a sign on the door that apologizes for the inconvenience to their customers."

"Well, that's a handy excuse for not having E.J. return to work today."

"He's protecting the kid as long as he can," Ranger said. "While you were at lunch I went to McAllister's under the pretense to check the security system. Since it was empty, I searched the building and came up with nothing. No chemicals, no sign of E.J. or Jenny."

"I could have gone with you," I said.

"I know, Babe, and I'm glad you didn't. You had to eat anyway."

"I had the Tastykake with me!"

Ranger's lips shifted slightly up, not quite a grin but a definite sign of amusement. "In regard to Anthony Marco," he said continuing, "We thought he'd stay with friends, his grandparents are dead as well as his parents. He has no other family and the homes of his friends in the area have already been searched. There's no sign of him in any of these homes, but we know he'd stay in the area because of whatever E.J. McAllister is holding over his head."

"What about his job?" I asked. "He's supposed to be working from home and if he's not going home, did he call in sick?"

"I spoke briefly with his immediate supervisor and learned that he's still signing in and doing his job. He has to be somewhere where there's access to the internet. Our best guess is a hotel or motel. I have two men in the process of contacting each one in a 20-mile radius to see if anyone checked in that fits his description. None of his credit cards or bank cards have been used in the last few days, so we haven't been able to place him."

"I still don't think that he's the one we should be worried about," I told Ranger.

"I agree. He had an argument with the guy on the motorcycle before getting on it. He complied when he saw the gun. Then when he apologized to you earlier for your being hurt, I knew he wasn't the one we need to be concerned over, however, we do need to talk to him."

"Anything new with Jenny?"

"We didn't find much more on Jennifer Marino. According to the police, the fingerprints in her house belonged to her, Marco, McAllister and a few other people who were all confirmed as friends. If E.J. did kidnap her, we think he'd bring her to a private residence. We have a list of properties owned by the McAllister family and I have a team going through them as we speak. E.J. hasn't been at his house, or his parents' all day. We're monitoring the area."

"Jeez," I said to Ranger. "You're probably doing more than the FBI."

"I've had a few government contracts dealing with them before, and spoke to the investigator in charge of this case. We agreed to exchange whatever information we can to close this quickly."

Ranger pulled up footage of what happened at McAllister's on his computer. We watched it together, and I tried my best to not look absolutely horrified at footage of Cal getting shot and then flying back with Ranger during the small explosion.

I noticed Ranger's hands were clenching.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Babe, where is your utility belt?" he asked me, turning the monitor off.

"In my purse."

"Get it. You're going to the gun range."

I hated the gun range and especially hated shooting my gun. I went to the apartment door where I dropped my purse and took out my utility belt. Ranger walked with me to the elevator.

"This is important," Ranger told me as we stepped onto the elevator, probably predicting how I was going to react at the range. "I want to make sure you can shoot your gun, eyes open, and hit your target. Cal got hit. What if it were you?"

"Ranger," I said, as we exited into the garage and walked to the rear. Ranger unlocked the door to the range and switched the light on. We walked into the long, windowless room and I eyed my target on the back wall: a paper torso with a bulls-eye at the heart. "I hate guns."

"Babe, you don't have to like them." He gave a small, uncharacteristic sigh. "Humor me, okay?"

"Okay," I said. "But you have to humor me and go back upstairs."

Ranger watched me, mentally gauging my seriousness. He took my phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. "We tried doing a trace on the restricted number, but it was impossible. Call Tank and have him come down to help you."

Tank answered after the first ring.

"It's Stephanie. Want to help me shoot a big piece of paper?"

"Is this so Ranger goes back upstairs to relax?"

"Yep." I wasn't surprised he knew our location.

"Give me two minutes," he said and disconnected.

"Tank's coming down," I told Ranger.

Ranger got out two pairs of ear protectors and bullets. He gave me a kiss and walked out of the room. I saw through the doorway that he and Tank were talking. They did one of those complicated handshakes and Ranger left.

After an hour and two boxes of ammo, my arm felt like Jell-O. I went through five paper torsos, which Tank gave me to bring up to Ranger.

As I walked into Ranger's apartment I found him back in his office. I laid the papers on the side of his desk.

"How'd you do?" he asked, grabbing the papers.

"The good news is, I kept my eyes open. The bad news is, even if I wanted to shoot someone, I can't move my arm."

"It makes up for the four leg presses earlier," he said smiling at the paper. "You did a good job here. I'm proud of you, Babe."

I smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." He stood up and rubbed my arm where I needed it the most. He led me into his bedroom where he wasted no time in relieving me of my clothes and rubbing me in all the right places. We made love slowly and passionately, taking comfort in the knowledge that we were both safe.

"How is it that you're so good at that? Is lovemaking included in RangeMan's training?" I asked him a while later.

"God given talent," Ranger said next to me, rubbing small circles on my hip. "We should get moving if we have to be at your parents' house by six."

I groaned and rolled myself off of the bed, slipping on a black robe that was dropped over a chair, making my way to the shower.

"Need any help?" Ranger asked from the bed. He looked satisfied and sexy.

"No! We'll be late!"

He had his eyes closed and smiled.

I thought about what I had to wear here and felt a rush of panic. "Actually, I have a favor to ask."

"Now would be a great time to ask for one," he said, eyes still closed.

"Are you able to drive?"

"Yes."

"I need to get to the mall for something to wear tonight since most of my clothes are now property of the FBI. I can shower quickly, take my car and pick something up. Is it okay if I meet you at my parents' house?

"Babe."

"I promise I'll get there before Grandma Mazur tries to make a move on you."

"Babe."

"Yeah?"

"Check the closet."

I narrowed my eyes and looked toward the closet door. "Why?"

"Ella went out to grab a few things for you, I'm sure there's something in there you could wear tonight."

I walked toward the closet and opened the door. There on the side I kept my clothes on, my side, were at least a week's worth of clothes and in colors other than black! Blue jeans, khakis, tank tops, long sleeved t-shirts, and sweaters were folded on shelves. Hanging up were two, incredibly soft business suits, one in black, the other a navy blue pinstriped. Next to them were two white blouses. I looked at the clothing tags and sighed. These weren't from the neighborhood Costco, they were even better than the clothes I had previously. I turned my head to thank Ranger when I saw it, the perfect black dress, hanging on the back of the door. I thumbed through the pile of sweaters and found a black cardigan with subtle black beads sewn into the collar. I saw my black shoes that I wore for Ranger last night on the floor and thought 'Bingo!' I knew what I was going to wear and didn't have to drive to the mall. "You didn't have to do that," I said to Ranger as I came out of the closet.

"I didn't, Ella did."

I walked over to where he laid and kissed him, leaning my forehead against his. "Thank you. For everything. I'd hate to see what kind of a tab I'm running up with you."

"No need to thank me, and there is no tab. There is no price for what we give each other, I've told you that before. I love you, Stephanie."

"I love you, too." I lifted my head and kissed him again. "You know, now that I don't have to go to the mall, I suppose I might need some help in the shower after all."

"Lead the way."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Ranger as he pulled to the curb in front of my parents' house.

"Even if I wasn't sure, your mother is watching us from the door," he said, turning the car off.

I sighed. I knew we were about to enter a world of utter chaos. The good part of that being that Valerie and the kids were there. The attention wouldn't solely be on us. "How're you feeling?"

He slid his eyes in my direction. "How are _you_ feeling?"

"Like I need more time to prepare you."

Ranger grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Let's do this."

We got out of the car, and he met me at my door. I smoothed down my dress and waved to my mom. Ranger beeped the doors locked and we made our way up the steps to where she was holding the door open for us.

"Come in," my mother said enthusiastically. "Ranger, it's been too long. We were wondering when you were going to join us for dinner again." Even though she said it a little too nicely, her eyes were genuine. She looked like she meant it. I wondered if she recently visited the whiskey she kept in the kitchen cabinet.

"Thank you for inviting me, Helen," he said to her.

We came in and hung up our jackets. I placed my purse on the floor and heard my mother gasp.

"What happened to your face?"

"Mom. In the past I've been shot, burned, and dyed blue. And you're now worrying about a bruise?"

Grandma chose to walk into the foyer at that moment. "Were you chasing someone?" she asked.

"Yeah," I told her. "Anthony Marco."

"Anthony Marco? I know his grandmother, Gladys, from bingo."

"His grandmother?"

"Yes, dear. Did you injure your ears, too?"

"No. Anthony Marco is MIA right now," I told Grandma. "Do you think you could talk to Gladys and see if she knows where he is?"

"You betcha," Grandma said. "And if she doesn't want to give me the goods, I'll remind her of an embarrassing situation she recently had at Pleasure Treasure." Ranger grinned, which seemed to get Grandma's attention. "Hiya, Handsome."

"Edna," Ranger said, making sure I stood between the two of them. "It's nice to see you."

"Well," Mom said rubbing her hands on her apron, "Your father and Albert are in the living room, Valerie is in the kitchen, and the girls are at the dining table."

Ranger stopped me as Mom and Grandma went back to the kitchen. "Babe, Anthony Marco's grandparents are dead. We've looked into his family members."

"I'll get Grandma alone sometime tonight and ask her," I told him. "Maybe she knows something we don't."

We walked into the living room and said hi to my dad and Albert.

"You guys remember Ranger," I said to them.

My father nodded toward Ranger. "You a Mets or Yankees fan?" he asked Ranger.

"Yankees," Ranger said.

My father considered this. "Giants or Jets?"

"Giants."

"Islanders or Rangers?"

"Rangers."

"I don't follow basketball," my dad said.

"I like the Knicks," Ranger told him.

"Knicks, Rangers, Yankees, and Giants," Dad said to himself. "Good man. I'll try to overlook the baseball indiscretion."

I smiled at Ranger and lifted my eyebrows in a quick motion, which I hope he understood as "he likes you!"

Albert was sitting on the end of the sofa, seemingly excited that more testosterone just came into the room. "I like those teams, too," he said. "I don't get to watch sports very often because I'm usually outvoted, but I'm a big sports fan. I love to play, too."

Albert was like a little puppy, wanting to be liked and played with. He was about my height and resembled the Pillsbury Doughboy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Baby Hannah resembled her father. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a Pillsbury Doughboy physique were more suited to Hannah than Albert.

"What do you play?" Ranger asked Albert.

"Well, I more play on video games. I'm a great Wii bowler and baseball player. I used to play on a softball team but I kept getting sunburned and halfway through the season, I'd have to quit because my neck was so red and blistered."

My lip curled back. "Eww."

"Yeah, it was gross," he said. "Val wants to play soccer on the weekends now. I guess that's good because it's fall, and I won't get as burned."

"That's really nice of you to play with her and the girls," I told Albert. "Valerie needs the encouragement."

"I can be really encouraging," Albert said. "I think she's doing great with this exercise stuff. Although I am going to miss all the fluff she's going to lose. She's like my comfy pillow."

I sucked in some air. My dad was watching TV and stopped paying attention a while ago. Ranger didn't seem to have a physical reaction to Albert comparing Valerie to a comfy pillow, but I had a feeling there was some kind of emotion going on through his head. Valerie was kind of his protégé. She listened to everything he told her, and trusted him blindly with all of the exercise stuff.

I looked through the doorway to the dining room, making sure Val wasn't in there, and was well out of ear shot. "I hope you don't call her that to her face," I said to Albert.

He sat there, thinking about what he had just said. "I don't think she minds it," he said to me. "Do you think it's offensive? Because I wouldn't call her anything that's offensive. I think she's terrific."

"It would be better to tell her that," Ranger said in a very authoritative tone. "If I hear that you derailed her progress, you'll have to answer to me."

My dad kept his eyes on the TV, but he gave a silent chuckle and grinned. Albert, on the other hand, looked like he was about to need a bag to start breathing into. Ranger clapped him on the shoulder to make his point known and put his hand on my back, leading me toward the dining room. "Let's go see what smells so good."

We stepped into the dining room, where we heard the voices of Valerie's girls, but couldn't see them. My mother added two leaves into the already large table, making it stretch almost the entire length of the room. A large white lace table cloth hung over the table, creating a fortress any kid would go crazy for. I knew where the girls were.

I smiled at Ranger and knelt down, lifting the corner of the lace and peeking in. I noticed baby Hannah sitting in an infant chair that propped her into a sitting position. We locked eyes and I said "peek-a-boo!"

Hannah smiled, but quickly the smile was wiped away when Angie and Mary Alice, whose backs were facing me, screamed. Apparently peek-a-boo is fun for babies, but downright terrifying for ten year olds. Hannah's face went from happy, to stunned, and eventually melted to squinting eyes and a quivering lower lip. Lisa sat on the other end of the fort and stared at her sisters.

"Oh, Hannah," I said lifting my arms out and pulling her out from under the table. I stood up and lightly bounced with her in my arms.

"Aunt Steph, you scared us," Mary Alice yelled from under the table.

"I never realized what a scary game peek-a-boo was," I said back, still shushing Hannah.

I turned to Ranger. "Welcome to dinner at the Plum's house."

"It's not my first time here," Ranger said. "I've learned to expect anything at this table."

At the sound of Ranger's voice, Hannah stopped crying. Her wispy blonde hair lightly moved and she settled her gaze on Ranger, her little blue eyes sized him up. She held out a hand and Ranger gave her his index finger to squeeze.

I smiled and said to Hannah, "he has that effect on most women."

Valerie appeared at the door, which connected the kitchen to the dining room. "Girls, time to get out from under there and set the table." She glanced at Hannah holding Ranger's finger and gave him a very motherly smile. "Steph, give the baby to Ranger. You can grab Lisa from under the table. She likes to hide under there."

Great, I thought, time to make another baby cry. The older girls scampered out from under the table into the kitchen. I lifted the table cloth again. Lisa looked up at me and squealed "Feffie!" She held out her arms to me and I brought her out. I walked over to Ranger and Hannah, and we watched the sisters poke around at each other. "Baby," Lisa said looking at Ranger.

"Yes," Ranger said to Lisa. "She's a baby."

I'd never seen Ranger talk to small children before. It was kind of cute.

"Babe," Ranger said. "You might need to get your sister." I followed his gaze to his arms, where Hannah was doing the sign for milk.

Valerie came out of the kitchen, holding her chest. "I swear she has some freakish ESP with my breasts," she said taking the baby out of Ranger's arms. "We're having pot roast for dinner," she said in baby talk, "and mommy wants to eat it, so let's make this quick."

I'm sure the baby was thinking the same thing. I apologized to Ranger for Valerie's openness.

"Contrary to popular belief, I have held babies, and I know what breasts are traditionally used for." He paused and looked at Lisa. "Did she call you Feffie?"

"Yuck it up," I told him. "I happen to like it. Lisa, can you say Ranger?"

She said something that sounded like "Jer-jer".

He smiled and, as her sister did just a couple minutes before, Lisa locked eyes with Ranger and held her arms out to him.

"Like you said, I have that effect on most women," he said taking her from my arms.

No shit.

The older girls were setting the table and Grandma Mazur stood in the doorway. "Ain't that somethin'? If that baby had a darker complexion, she'd look exactly like what Ranger and Stephanie's kid would look like."

My mom peered into the dining room, zeroing in on us with the baby. "You already have a daughter, Ranger, isn't that right?"

"Yes, Julie lives with her mother in Florida," he said.

"How is she doing? There was the kidnapping a while back. That must've been hard on all of you."

I wondered if this was the Hungarian-Italian inquisition Valerie warned me about on the treadmills earlier this morning.

"It was hard. I owe Julie's safety to Stephanie. You should be very proud of her. I am."

Mom's face softened. "I hope you can see why most of the time I hate her job, but I'm very glad she was there for you and your Julie."

Ranger nodded to her and she went back into the kitchen to finish up.

"The kidnapper shot you, didn't he?" Grandma asked Ranger.

"Yes."

"It was in the chest and neck, right? Got any scars? If you want, you can take your shirt off so I can get a better look. I don't mind."

"Mother," my mom yelled from the kitchen. "I need some help with something."

"Later then," Grandma said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Leave the man alone," we heard Mom say to Grandma. "He's probably Stephanie's last chance and she doesn't need you scaring him off!"

I looked to Ranger and then at Lisa who was chewing on her finger. "Your Grandma is a little high strung," I said to Lisa, "but she's okay. One day when you're older, ask her about the bunny she ran over trying to save me." I saw interest flicker in Ranger's eyes. I'd never told him that my mom was the one who ran over Eddie Abruzzi's thug in a rabbit suit. "Sorry about that," I mumbled to Ranger. "She's been trying to marry me off since I was Lisa's age."

"This is nothing," Ranger said. "Wait until I bring you to meet my family. They'll probably have a priest there ready to marry us."

"Oh." I felt my heart flutter with a mixture of nervousness and something else. Maybe hope or anticipation? Maybe excitement over the fact that he thought about bringing me to meet his parents? "Something to look forward to."

It must have been six o'clock, or a minute away because my dad made his way to the dining room, settling himself in his usual spot at the head of the table.

Angie poked her head out from the kitchen. "Grandpa's ready to eat," she announced. I took Lisa out of Ranger's arms and placed her into her high chair, where a mound of cheerios and cut up watermelon waited for her.

Mom, Grandma Mazur, and the two girls brought the food out to the table. It was like a time warp. I imagined Valerie and myself doing the same exact thing over twenty years ago, setting the table for dear old Dad after a hard day of sorting mail at the Post Office.

I sat in the chair to the right of my dad and started filling up wine glasses, passing them around. Ranger sat next to me and to his right Angie sat next to Lisa in her high chair. Mom was to the left of Dad, followed by Grandma Mazur, who sat directly across from Ranger. I thought the move was very strategic on her part. Next to Grandma was Mary Alice, then Albert, and the only chair left was for Valerie, who'd just entered the room adjusting her shirt from feeding the baby. Hannah looked happy and sleepy. Valerie sat her in the high chair and within seconds, she was sleeping. A communal "awww" was said around the table at the sight of the baby.

My mother handed my father the meat, which signaled the beginning of dinner and the race to pass the plates. After that we ate for a good five minutes in silence, enjoying the pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy. There was also grilled asparagus, but that was more for setting a good example for the kids. Ranger of course ate the asparagus.

"How's the exercise going?" Mom asked.

"Fine," I said. "You should really ask Valerie. She's doing great."

Valerie looked up from her food. "Yeah, it's good. You should see Ranger's company gym. It's really nice. He, Tank and Hal have been helping me set up my own routine, and I think I can do it. I'm really excited about it."

"Tank is the beefcake who's dating Lula?" Grandma asked.

"Yeah, and he's super nice once you get around the whole 'he can snap your neck like a twig' thing," Val said.

Ranger grinned and leaned over to me. "I'll have to tell Tank that."

"Have you lost any weight yet?" Mom asked her.

"Five pounds," Val said smiling. A murmur of excited congratulations was said across the table.

"So, Ranger," Mom said, as she passed a second bottle of wine around the table. "You looked pretty comfortable holding the baby, do you have any plans for future children?"

"Mom," I warned.

"Be quiet, Stephanie."

"Currently I have no plans," Ranger told her.

Albert cleared his throat. "I didn't plan on ever having kids, and then I met Stephanie who introduced me to Valerie. Valerie must be extremely fertile because the Kloughn males are not known for having fast swimming sperm."

My dad looked up from his plate and a glob of potatoes that were about to enter his mouth dropped from the fork. "Jesus," he muttered.

"I bet Ranger's sperm is top notch," Grandma said. "If you want more kids though you have to use them or you'll lose them."

Ranger knocked his knee into mine. I looked at him and he was trying hard not to grin.

"I don't know if that's how it works for men," Valerie said to Grandma. "Paul McCartney was able to crank one out at sixty-one. And Felix from the Odd Couple TV show was almost eighty when he fathered a baby. What was his name?"

"Tony Randall," Ranger said. That time I had to stifle my own grin at his Odd Couple knowledge.

"Yes, Tony Randall! Could you imagine having a baby at eighty? Obviously the wife was a lot younger because unlike men, women really do have to use it or lose it."

"Yeah, Stephanie, if you're going to have babies you should get on the ball. Before you know it you'll start going through the change," Grandma said. "You remember your mother when she went through the change? Hot, cold, hot, cold, and a snarfy attitude to boot. When we finally got her to take hormone pills she wasn't as crazy."

"I was not snarfy." My mother sighed and set down her fork. "What about marriage, Ranger?"

"What about it?"

"You're with Stephanie now, have you given any plans to settling her down? Proposing marriage? Giving us more grandchildren?"

"A grandson," my dad mumbled. "There's too much estrogen around here." Then he did something I've never seen him do. He winked toward Ranger. He was kidding around. It was the Twilight Zone at my parents' house.

Ranger looked like he was about to answer my mom, but my dad cut him off.

"Leave him alone, Helen. They're both adults, let them run their lives the way they want to."

"Frank," Mom said, looking like a bull ready to fight.

"What's for dessert?" Dad cleverly piped in. "It smells great."

"Oh! Pineapple upside-down cake," Mom said, smiling. "When everyone is finished, I'll bring it out."

That concluded the dramatic portion of the evening.

As Valerie, Albert and the kids were leaving, I pulled Grandma Mazur aside. "Grandma, are you sure you know Anthony Marco's grandmother? In the search we did, he didn't have any living parents or grandparents."

"Well, Gladys wouldn't be on there. When Anthony's Grandfather died, his Grandma Maria took a sort of, um, special companionship with Gladys. It was very modern for this neighborhood at the time."

"Okay, so what is Gladys' last name?" I asked Grandma.

"Nadalini. I'm going to see her at the funeral parlor tonight. You can come with me if you want, or I can call you when I talk to her."

I didn't want to field questions about why a HAZMAT team was at my apartment the night before, so I declined. "Call me if you see her and talk to her. Act casual. See if she knows where he's staying, and try your best to get me an address."

Grandma Mazur winked toward me, "I love doing this bounty hunter stuff. I'll play it real smooth."

Ranger moved to stand next to me as Grandma went upstairs to get ready. "I sent Tank a text message to search for Gladys Nadalini's address. If she's going to the wake, we should be able to get in and search."

As we were leaving, my mother came out with a bag of leftovers. "It's not much, but I put in a nice piece of cake and enough food for the two of you for lunch tomorrow." She handed the bag to Ranger. He took the bottom of the bag but she still had a hold on the top. "I want you to come back for dinner soon," she said to him.

"I'll come back as often as she wants me to," he said indicating to me.

My mom let go of the bag and patted Ranger on the arm. "You're a good man," she said. "Keep her safe."

I wouldn't say I was mortified, but there was some embarrassment there. However, I took what she said as a sign of her approval.

"Finally!" I said, as we were walking to the car.

"Babe?"

"My mom was a little odd tonight but I think she finally accepts that we're together. Not once tonight did she bring up Joe. I feel like giving someone a high five." I took his free hand and slapped it.

"Are you sure you only had two glasses of wine?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"I'm sure, but if you want we can go back in and talk Grandma into going to a bar for a few shots."

Ranger's phone buzzed and he read off Gladys Nadalini's address. "You'll have to take a rain check on shots with Granny. I'm going to give you another B and E lesson." He clicked open the locks and held my door open. "This is going to be interesting with those shoes, Babe."

I looked down at my FMPs and sighed.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Ranger and I sat in his car a half a block away from Gladys Nadalini's row house. We had found out from Grandma Mazur that Gladys was Anthony Marco's pseudo-grandmother, having a "modern" relationship with Anthony's Grandma Maria when his grandfather died. Grandma Mazur promised to ask Gladys about Anthony when she saw her at the funeral home tonight and report back to me, however a quick text message to Tank and we had her address, her physical description, and confirmation that she lived alone.

As we waited for Gladys to leave, Ranger took out a small box that held two long, metal tools. He told me they were lock picks and gave me a quick tutorial on how to use them. I couldn't help but feel more nervous than usual. Typically if a lock was being picked, it wasn't by my own hands. Now it seemed real and very, very illegal.

Ranger seemed to sense my discomfort with breaking the law, instead of just being an accessory to it like I normally was. "You're going in the back way with Tank and you won't be seen. If you can't get the lock open after a couple of tries, let him do it." He handed me a stun gun.

I took a few cleansing breaths to mentally prepare myself just as an older woman who fit Gladys' description of tall and thin with a mane of gray, curly hair, locked the doors to the house. She walked to a Volvo station wagon, disengaged her Club anti-theft steering wheel lock, and motored off to the funeral home.

All of the lights in the house were off, except for a faint glow coming from the attic window.

Ranger opened his phone and dialed Tank. "It's time." He pulled the car around the corner where we parked in front of a black RangeMan SUV. Tank and Bobby stood at the back wearing black clothes and badass expressions.

As I stepped out of the car in my black dress and high heels I was suddenly very aware of the clunking noise I made as I walked. I thought about just taking my shoes off and tiptoeing through the neighborhood when Tank handed me my sneakers. Relief flooded through me. "Thank you," I whispered, setting to work switching shoes.

The next things Tank had in his hands were bullet-proof vests. As we were putting them on Bobby smiled.

"This is like déjà vu," he commented. "Except we're not doing a _redecorating_ job and Lester isn't here."

I remembered that. I needed money and asked Ranger if he could throw some work my way. The first job he gave me he called a 'redecorating job' that ended up with us not so subtly evicting an apartment full of junkies. "As long as Tank doesn't throw anybody out a third story window," I said. "You don't think anyone is going to shoot as us, right?" I asked them, tightening my vest.

"We didn't think they'd shoot today," Tank said grimly. "What's the word?" he asked Ranger.

"You and Stephanie will take the back door, Bobby and I will get the front. Don't disturb anything. If he's in there we don't want the Grandmother thinking he was kidnapped. We want it to look like he went out for the night.

"We'll get the first floor," he continued, indicating himself and Bobby. "You take the basement. We'll meet on the second floor and if he's not there, we go into the attic together. Questions?"

We shook our heads and, before setting off on our separate ways, I Iocked eyes with Ranger. He'd always been able to know what I was thinking, so I mentally asked him to be careful and to not get shot. Ranger's eyes softened for a moment before his blank face took over and he left with Bobby.

I followed Tank down the road, walking as inconspicuously as possible, thankful that I no longer clunked as I walked. Tank took a sharp left down an alley and we entered Gladys Nadalini's backyard.

Tank stepped onto the cement stoop near the back door and motioned for me to come up. He gestured to the lock and I took the two metal tools out of my sweater pocket. I bent over near the lock and started doing exactly what Ranger had told me to do. Tank stood behind me and kept watch. After my third try and no luck, I nudged him.

"It's too dark, I can't get it."

"You'll learn," he said as I gave him the small tools. He worked his magic and the door popped right open. Quietly, we entered and took out our weapons. A flight of stairs to our left led us down to the basement. The basement was basically one big, open room that looked like it was the home to holiday decorations. After making sure no one was hiding, we made our way to the second floor.

As we passed the kitchen I noticed the dish drainer had a pile of beer cans lining it. I didn't know Gladys, but I had a feeling she wasn't that big of a drinker. Anthony Marco, on the other hand, had a house full of beer cans. I had a feeling we were going to find him tonight. Tank and I met Bobby and Ranger on the second floor. Ranger, Tank and Bobby were communicating through hand signals. We were all silent. I assumed there was now a plan for going up to the attic; I just didn't know what it was. I hoped they'd let me in on that game one day.

I felt a nudge and Tank handed me a nine-millimeter Sig Sauer. My stomach did a back flip and I worked hard to not show my fear. Tank then took out a matching gun and held it near his shoulder. I pocketed my stun gun and took a similar stance as we all followed Ranger up the steps.

Gladys Nadalini's attic was nice, clean, and unfinished. There was a chill to the air and I noticed it wasn't insulated. There was one source of light in the place, which immediately had my attention. It was the light of a laptop, sitting on an old metal desk that looked like it was purchased second hand from a government yard sale. We walked closer and saw that behind the screen, Anthony Marco was sleeping.

Bobby and Ranger held their guns toward Anthony as Tank slipped behind the desk and tucked his gun behind his back. He took out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed one of Anthony's hands that dangled off of the desk. As Tank reached for the second arm, Anthony woke up.

"What the…"

Ranger stepped in front of Anthony, blocking my view. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Ranger told him. "And I have a feeling our definitions of 'easy' are different."

I took a few steps to the side and saw Anthony's pale face next to a very large Glock held by Ranger.

"He shot at you today," Anthony said apparently remembering Ranger's face. "Shit, dude, were you hurt?"

"Not as much as you're going to be if you don't cooperate."

"I have to find Jenny. I have to stay and wait for an email telling me when I have to leave."

"Let Tank cuff you and we'll talk about this more in a safe place," Ranger told him, lowering his Glock.

"Does the safe place have Wi-Fi?" Anthony asked. "I got an email saying that Jenny was being held until the job was completed. I know it's E.J. McAllister playing some sick game. I need to get to her," he pursed his lips and clenched his now cuffed fists. "He said she's been crying my name."

"We have Wi-Fi," Ranger said, lifting him under the shoulders to get him up. "And we also have questions we need answered. Do you have any reason to believe this house is being monitored?"

"No, only my grandma knows I'm here. I should write her a note saying I'll be back later."

"Stephanie will write it," Ranger said.

It was the sound of my name that made Anthony's face snap up and his panic level rise. "I can't go to jail now, they're going to make me stay there until morning to get bonded again and what if they don't let me out?"

"Anthony," I said in a soothing tone, "I'm not taking you in. But I will on Friday like we agreed to or I'm breaking your finger. These guys will help you find Jenny. You just have to cooperate."

I gave Tank his gun back and wrote a note to "Grammy G" from Anthony that said he went out and would call her as soon as he could. I attached it to the attic door and went back up to get his laptop to bring with us.

We left out the back door with Anthony, still cuffed, wearing a baseball hat, large hoodie, and flanked on both sides by the Merry Men. I locked up the house, and felt relieved that we had him. Relieved that this would hopefully soon be over.

I changed back into my FMPs and stood with Ranger in the RangeMan garage as Tank and Bobby escorted Anthony Marco out of their SUV and through the door that went to the gun range area. Ranger instructed them to bring Anthony to a holding cell.

I'd never seen the holding cells here before and wondered where they were hidden. A while back Lula and I accidentally set a skip's home on fire and his house was filled with marijuana plants. I'm pretty sure we made half of Trenton high that day. Ranger brought him back to a holding cell while the Trenton P.D. investigated the incident. They kept him nice and comfortable with Ella's cooking, expensive weed, and non-stop television on a fifty-inch plasma screen. The skip didn't remember the house fire, or the fact that Lula and I were involved when I finally took him in. Chances were that the RangeMan holding cells were like Bill Gates' house compared to the holding cells at the Trenton cop shop.

"Earth to Babe," Ranger said.

I turned my head and focused on him. "Sorry. I don't know where I went for a minute there."

He handed me the bag of leftovers from my parents' house. "Bring this up to the apartment and meet me back down at the holding area." We were alone in the garage. "I had plans for us after dinner, and if the rain holds out, maybe we'll be able to make them."

"Rain?" I said. "It doesn't look like rain."

"It's in the air, Babe."

Whatever that meant.

I exited the elevator after dropping off the food in Ranger's fridge. Making my way through the empty garage, I key fobbed my way through the door to the gun range. I didn't know exactly where I was going, but I saw a light coming from a door at the end of the hallway. When I opened the door I noticed a flight of stairs heading down. Ranger's basement had a basement.

Through a couple more doors I found Cal standing in a small room, in front of another door.

Cal tipped his head up, acknowledging my presence. I noticed he looked a little tired. I wondered why he was down here at all after being shot in the vest earlier, though I imagined he wanted to get to the bottom of this as much as Ranger. Being shot is something someone tends to take personally.

I walked up to Cal. "You feeling okay?"

Cal nodded.

"Hopefully this will get taken care of soon."

He nodded.

"Is he in there?" I asked, gesturing to the door behind him.

He nodded, again!

"Can I go in?"

"I have orders not to let anyone in," Cal said, "including you."

"Are you kidding?" I said, feeling the build up to rhino mode. I paced in front of Cal for a few minutes mumbling to myself and eventually noticed there was a chair across from the door. I sat down and narrowed my eyes at Cal. I knew it wasn't his fault, but he seemed up to the staring contest I'd mentally challenged him to. He stared back at me with two sets of eyes: his own and the ones from his flaming skull tattoo on his forehead.

Eventually I gave up and shifted my glance to the door behind him, willing it to open. I guess you can't use the Jedi mind trick on a door, especially if you aren't a Jedi. I thought about wiggling my nose like Samantha, but only if Cal turned a different direction. I'm still pretty sure that even if he did look away, the forehead tattoo would still watch me.

Finally, the door opened and Ranger stood in the way. I flew up and walked toward him.

"Not yet," Ranger told me.

"He's my FTA!"

"He's currently my security company's link to solving a string of events." He looked over to Cal and nodded. Cal entered the room with Ranger and they closed the door, locking me out.

I swore and kicked the door. Then I looked down at my pretty shoes to make sure I didn't scuff them. I sat back down and watched the door again. Ranger wasn't the only one who could brood in silence. I can be angry, I thought. "I can be fucking terrifying," I said out loud.

I was extremely annoyed over not being allowed into the interrogation room with Anthony. I stood up again and paced in front of the locked door, waiting for it to open. The second it did, I planned on pushing my way in.

The unmistakable sound of feet coming down the stairs echoed in the hallway. Hector came through the door carrying his tool box.

"Hola, Stephanie," he said, smirking like he had a secret.

"Hi, Hector."

He pointed to the door. "Locked?"

"Yes, they're questioning Anthony Marco." Without me.

He gave a single chuckle and made a punching motion with one hand balled into a fist, hitting his palm. "Questioning," he said. He set his toolbox on the floor next to the chair I'd recently vacated. He took a gray colored cord out of the toolbox and handed it to me. "Sit," he said, pointing to the chair.

I sat down and looked at the cord, wondering what the hell it was for, then I looked back at Hector.

"You are angry," he said.

"Yeah, they're in there with my FTA. I should at least be allowed in there."

"Their loss is my gain?" he said, taking two Gameboys out, handing them to me. "We will play while we wait."

He closed his toolbox and sat on it, taking the Gameboys from me and hooking them together with the gray cord. I noticed in the back of each Gameboy was a Tetris cartridge. My anger was replaced by one of happy curiosity. I was kind of touched that he remembered our conversation about video games.

"Are you waiting for Ranger, too?" I asked him.

"Si. I do the computers," Hector said. "I am the, what is it? Treckie?"

I smiled. "Techie."

Hector synced up the games and handed one to me. It was Player 1 vs. Player 2. I was Player 2. "Don't cry when I beat you," he said.

I sent him a look that I hope said: _bring it on_.

While Hector and I played Tetris, fighting to get our little blocks into position to make lines across our screens, he asked me to tell him about Anthony Marco. I told him everything from his arrest, to his pinky swear, to the connection with McAllister's, to finding him tonight and his need to locate Jenny. Hector, who wore a wicked smile on his face after I told him about the pinky swear, had suggested that when Ranger let me into the room, that I have a little 'fun' with Anthony.

It may have been the fact that I was beating Hector on the game, but I felt very invincible at the moment and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea he devised.

I was so engrossed in the game I didn't hear when Ranger came out of the holding cell until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cal pass me and Hector. I paused the game and looked up at Ranger who seemed to be amused by what we were doing.

Ranger waited until we turned the games off and Hector put them back in his tool box. "We have a plan," Ranger said. "We're keeping Marco here and I'm sending one of my men in his place tomorrow. Zip looks most like him, so he's going to run his exact route."

"Does Zip have experience with long distance running?" I asked Ranger.

"He will tomorrow."

"Can I go in there now?"

Ranger nodded. "I need to go up to the fifth floor and speak to a couple of people."

"Perfect," I said. "I only need a minute, and I'd like Hector to go in with me anyway."

Ranger raised an eyebrow toward me and turned to Hector. "Tome su computadora portátil y copiar el disco duro y su correo electrónico. Vigílelo y asegúrese de que ella no matarlo."_ [Take his laptop and copy the hard drive and his emails. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't kill him.] _

Hector nodded and picked up his toolbox. We watched Ranger leave and listened to his footsteps fade away. I turned to the door and knocked as I opened it. "Anthony, It's Stephanie Plum," I called out.

The holding cell looked like a five star hotel suite that would cost a couple thousand dollars a night to stay in. The furniture was new and modern, as were the appliances and décor. It looked a heck of a lot better than my apartment.

Anthony Marco was sitting at a table in the kitchen area, looking pale and tired. He rubbed his cheeks and I could hear the sound of his stubble scratch against his hands. I felt bad for him, but still wanted to let him know I was serious about our pinky swear.

Hector and I sat on either side of Anthony.

"I told the other guys everything I know," he said.

"Anthony, do you know the rules of pinky swearing?" I asked. Not giving him time to answer, I continued. "Whether it's promised by touching pinkies, or verbally saying the words, it creates a deal. If one side breaks the promise, the other gets to break their pinky."

In a quick move, Hector stood up and had Anthony's arm on the table and his head in a tight grip. I grabbed Anthony's right pinky.

"Shit!" Anthony yelled, his breathing labored, "It's not Friday yet! I didn't break my promise until Saturday!"

I let his hand go, as Hector released his hold on Anthony's head. "Just wanted to make sure you knew I was serious," I said.

Hector smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Friday," he said taking Anthony's computer. And we left, bumping fists as we closed the door of the holding cell.

I left Hector in the basement to do whatever it was he had to do, and went to find Ranger on the fifth floor. I found him in his office.

"Babe," he said when he saw me in the doorway. "You shouldn't threaten the witnesses."

How did he know! "I didn't threaten anybody. I was following up on a previous agreement."

Ranger turned his computer screen toward me and replayed the moment where Hector grabbed Anthony and I took his finger. Of course it was monitored.

"Hector was fast," I said to Ranger.

"Just stay on his good side," Ranger said to me.

"Am I on his good side?"

"He was playing Tetris with you, Babe."

I smiled. "Yeah, and he lost."

Ranger grinned back at me and stood up. "The team working on the McAllister account has already seen the footage of my interview with Marco. If you want to view it later, I'll have it on the computer in my office upstairs."

"Why can't I view it now?" I asked.

"Because we haven't finished our evening."

He grabbed my hand and I wondered what Ranger had in store as we walked toward the elevator.


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: Sorry everyone, I didn't mean to cause an uproar over Ranger's not letting Stephanie into the holding cell in the last chapter! I hope reading this next chapter will explain why he did it. If he had to take a page out of Stephanie's book of sayings, he'd go with "it wasn't my fault!" ;)_**  
><strong>

**Chapter 20**

I turned to Ranger as we waited for the elevator on the fifth floor of RangeMan. "Why wasn't I allowed into the room with you and Anthony Marco?"

Ranger smiled. "He asked if you could stay outside. Said you made him nervous."

"What!"

"I know, Babe. After seeing how well you handled him with Hector I can't see why he'd feel that way."

"Hmm." Maybe Hector's idea to scare Anthony was a little over the top. I wondered why I made him nervous before the stunt we pulled though. Maybe every time he looked at me he saw prison bars and me with a wad full of cash from his apprehension, twirling my invisible evil mustache and laughing.

We walked into the elevator and I noticed Ranger was still smiling.

"What?" I asked. "It wasn't that bad!"

He kept smiling.

We got to the seventh floor and I thought we were heading for Ranger's apartment. Instead he walked to the door at the end of the hallway, which I always assumed to be a random closet. He inserted a key and opened the door. Inside was a staircase that led one way – up.

He started up the steps, turning back when he realized I wasn't following. "I won't bite, Babe."

I had my doubts. "Where are we going?"

"Upstairs," he said, coming down two steps and taking my hand.

I followed him up two flights of stairs and stopped when we came to a large door that said _Roof: Proceed with Caution_. I now understood why Ranger wanted to do this before the rain, but why the roof?

Ranger hit the bar that stuck out on the middle of the door, and held it as I walked out onto the roof of RangeMan.

I'd never been up here before, nor had I ever thought about coming up here. It was a flat roof, paved smooth. The sun had set and the sky was cloudy, but a few stars were visible. I still had on my outfit from earlier, a black cardigan over my black dress, so for the time being I was protected from the chill in the air. Ranger took my hand and pulled me around to an area on the other side of the doorway.

My eyes widened as we came to a small garden with white Christmas lights strung up around the perimeter. The lights stretched over to a bench that looked like it belonged in the park. On top of the bench was a tray holding a bottle of wine and two glasses. Next to the bench, on the side of the garden, was a sleek looking CD player.

I looked up at Ranger. "What's all this?" Besides possibly being the most romantic thing I've ever seen.

"Something we both need."

I wasn't going to argue with that. After the last few days, the thought of being alone together and sitting with a bottle of wine definitely felt needed. "It's beautiful."

"We probably have twenty minutes before the rain," Ranger remarked. I looked into the sky. It was cloudy, but they didn't look like rain clouds… or did they?

I followed Ranger to the bench where he motioned for me to sit down. He then walked over to the CD player and pressed a few buttons. The strains of a classical song surrounded us. I looked and saw small speakers attached in corners around the area.

"Do you come up here often?" I asked Ranger.

"No. This is Ella's garden. This is where she grows the flowers she puts all around the building. Not exactly what I had in mind tonight, but it will do on short notice."

This was short notice? It would have taken me a week to come up with this, plus an entire day to execute.

Ranger sat next to me and handed me the wine glasses. He popped the cork on the wine bottle and we watched it fly off the edge of the roof. He poured wine into the glasses and set down the bottle. I handed him a glass of wine, he tipped his glass toward me in a silent toast and took a sip. I did the same and nearly fell over when I tasted the wine. It was so good! I must've moaned because he wolf grinned and took my drink, setting it next to his on the tray.

Ranger held my hand and pulled me up with him. The cool night air was starting to get to me a little. We walked a few steps away from the bench and he pulled me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he had his at my waist. Then I noticed we were swaying with the music.

"I take it there are no cameras up here," I said to him.

"They're scrambled. You can dance as spastic as you wish."

"I'm not a spastic dancer!" I just didn't dance… ever.

Ranger flashed all 200-watts and started swaying a little more to the music. I started to feel his rhythm and the rhythm of the song, letting my hands knit together behind his neck. We weren't Fred and Ginger by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fun and sweet and kind of sexy letting Ranger move my body in whatever direction he wanted to. I no longer felt cold; in fact I thought maybe I was going to overheat.

"What song is this," I asked Ranger.

"Moonlight Sonata," he said. "Beethoven."

"I like it."

I felt exceptionally attracted to Ranger at this moment. Never before had I loved someone this much. And if I were totally truthful, I would say that I'd never experienced adult love before Ranger. With Dickie Orr I was more in love with the idea of being in love than with him. Then with Joe Morelli there was love, but it wasn't the kind of love I felt with Ranger. With Joe I was chasing a high school fantasy of being with the guy I gave my virginity to behind the cannoli case. When Joe and I first started dating I think my main goal was to make him see what he lost out on when he wrote the poem about me and left for the Navy. I loved Joe in my own way, but something was never right. Maybe it was fate that kept bringing me back to Ranger.

With Ranger, things were beyond right. While nothing in my life ever seemed easy, a relationship with him was. I didn't need to fight with Ranger to liven things up. I didn't want to hide things from him. We helped each other, looked out for each other, and if there was a secret it wasn't kept for long. Sometimes the feelings I felt for him scared me because they were so strong. I had to remind myself that we worked on a relationship for years before turning our friendship into something more; something better.

We danced for a couple more songs. Ranger said the names were Clair de Lune by Debussy, and Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. Other than telling me the names of the songs, we were silent, enjoying the moment. Until, that is, the first crack of thunder came and the sky opened up, pouring rain down by the bucketful.

Ranger kissed me and smiled in the rain. "Okay," I said. "You were right, _again_."

We separated and he picked up the CD player. "Take this to the apartment and I'll meet you down there in a few minutes."

Waving to him, I jogged to the door letting myself back into the warmth of the RangeMan building.

I walked into Ranger's apartment and put the CD player onto the kitchen counter. I popped the button on the player to see what the name of the CD was, and saw it was made on the computer. All it said was _Stephanie_. I could feel the goofy smile on my face as I took off my cardigan sweater and draped it over the back of a chair to dry off. My dress was still relatively dry, so I thought I'd go to Ranger's office to watch his interview with Anthony Marco.

I've been on the other side of Ranger's questions before, but never interview style. While watching him question Anthony, I couldn't help but think that if it were me in his place, I'd cry. I also knew he wasn't as hard on Anthony Marco as he could've been, because I think he also believed Anthony was relatively innocent.

The entire interview was recorded from a camera that must've been in the corner of the kitchen ceiling, directly pointing to the kitchen table where Anthony sat. Ranger stood, keeping the dominant position.

"_Is it just going to be you and me in here?" Anthony asked._

"_Were you expecting someone else?"_

"_I was kind of hoping that Ms. Plum could stay out." This caused Ranger to raise his eyebrow. Anthony continued, "She makes me kind of nervous."_

_Ranger nodded. "You still have to talk to me. It would be beneficial for you to do it now so we have it on tape. Later you will probably have to talk to the police or the FBI, who are now involved in this."_

_Anthony stuttered. "T-th-th-the FBI?"_

_Ranger gave a small nod. "We're recording all of this with a time stamp in case your cooperation needs to be proven to them. This is no longer a game, it's serious and if someone dies you could be considered an accomplice."_

"_I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Anthony said, rubbing his eyes._

"_Why don't you start from the beginning? When did this start?"_

"_It started last Wednesday, about a week after I was arrested and bonded out. You don't want to know why I was arrested, do you."_

"_I already know why."_

"_Okay, good. It's embarrassing."_

"_You're sure it's Edward McAllister Junior orchestrating all of this?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Is he blackmailing you?"_

"_E.J. doesn't have anything on me, I'm a boring person. The only thing in the emails concerns Jenny's safety. She has an order of protection against me, so I couldn't get near her to warn her. Every time I ran near the store I saw her working and that was a comfort, I knew she was safe." Anthony balled up his fists against his head. "Then I got a call saying she was gone. He said she's been crying my name, man." It took a minute for him to regain his control to answer the rest of Ranger's questions. _

"_Why would he kidnap her?"_

"_I don't know. When she and I were dating he had a crush on her. I thought he was harmless. All I know is this morning I got a call from a voice that sounded like E.J's, but the number was restricted. He told me I needed to finish picking up the packages and if nothing went wrong, he'd let Jenny go. I didn't know what he meant about letting her go, but I had a bad feeling so I ran to her house and found it a wreck. It looked like a struggle took place and I got scared. When Ms. Plum called me I was at my wits end. I couldn't think. I can hardly think right now. I have to finish that job. I can't let anything happen to her. Even if she doesn't want to be with me anymore, I can't let anything happen to her."_

"_How do you know E.J.?" Ranger continued._

"_I went to college with him. We were on the same running team, and took some classes together. Why would he do this? He's always been an angry guy, but running controlled that. Now that he can't run anymore, I don't know how he is."_

"_Why can't he run anymore?"_

"_A while back during a marathon, something happened to a group of runners that were close to the front of the race. I was in second, but eventually won first. I wait till the end to start sprinting. Anyway, something happened and it knocked about five people out. E.J. was in that group and he fell directly onto his knee. He had to have surgery and the doc told him he couldn't run anymore."_

"_He was arrested for being in possession of illegal chemicals after that; do you know anything about it?"_

"_All I know is that he kept saying he was innocent. I believed him at the time, and the jury acquitted him, but when he sprayed Ms. Plum with that stuff in the alley yesterday and when he shot at you and the other guy today at the store... I – I don't know what to think."_

"_How were you originally contacted?"_

"_E-mail. It's almost always e-mail. The first one had a photo of Jenny and said that if I cooperated with picking up packages at the computer store she wouldn't get hurt. I didn't take it seriously and a few hours later there was a new email with a video of Jenny outside of her house. The person recording it, E.J., held a gun in his hand as Jenny let herself into the house. I don't think she knew she was being recorded. It was the same gun he had on the motorcycle today."_

"_What do the emails say you have to do to 'cooperate'?"_

"_It's always the same. Leave my house at a certain time and change into black clothes on my way. I hide clothes under the gazebo at the park. When I get in the area of the store I need to watch out for the drop off. In the emails he attaches a photo of a person and when I see them place a package into the mailbox, I have to wait two minutes before coming onto the street to retrieve it. Then I take it to a garbage can a couple miles away on Nottingham. It's an empty lot that's paved over. I stick it in a garbage can on th property and run back to the park gazebo to take the black clothes off. Then I usually run home, or to wherever I'm staying, which recently has been with Grammy G."_

"_Why have you been staying with her?" Ranger asked._

"_After Ms. Plum figured out it was me, I thought she'd come to look for me and everything would get messed up. I got my computer out of my house, and ran to my only person I knew I could trust, my grandma. Told her they were fumigating my house and she told me to stay with her as long as I wanted."_

"_Why didn't you go to the police?"_

"_I don't want to sound paranoid, but I think I'm being watched. In some of the emails he references to things I do while I'm home alone. I don't want to chance anything and have him hurt Jenny."_

_"And you don't know what's in the packages?"_

_"No idea."  
><em>

I looked up from the computer screen and saw Ranger enter the apartment and come to the doorway of his office. He was soaked from head to toe. "I'm going to shower."

"Looks like you already did," I told him as he walked into the bathroom.

I focused back on the interview as the video showed Cal walk into the room. Anthony seemed to remember Cal and asked if he was okay. Cal seemed taken aback by the question, but nodded slowly, sizing Anthony up. Ranger, Cal and Anthony talked about how a transaction takes place from the computer communication to the drop off. Ranger let Anthony know that they'd be sending Zip in his place tomorrow to end this once and for all. He then said a RangeMan specialist would be down to check his computer and print the emails from E.J., and that I was waiting on the other side of the door. The video feed ended when Ranger and Cal left the room.

I turned off the computer and went to sit in Ranger's living room. I didn't hear the shower running, so I assumed he finished and would be out soon.

Ranger stepped into the doorway to the living room, he was freshly showered and his hair lay damp on his shoulders. He wore only a pair of black silk boxers that sat dangerously low on his hips. I tried to keep my mouth shut so drool didn't trickle out as he sat next to me on the couch.

"Do you know why I took a liking to you when we first met?" he asked me.

The question caught me off guard, but I definitely remembered the ostensibly unrefined, street smart guy of the past. "Because you saw me handcuffed naked to the shower rod?"

"No, that was just a bonus," he said with a smirk. "When Connie called me and told me about you, that she wanted me to meet you, I turned her down. She pushed a little more and promised she'd give me first pick at all of the high bonds that came in for the rest of her life if I just showed you some of the ropes."

To say I was surprised would be a major understatement. "Connie did that for me?"

Ranger nodded once and continued. "When I met you at the cafe downtown, you were confident and not afraid of me, like most people were. You were determined to do the job and bring in Morelli even though I thought it was a lost cause."

"Hey, it wasn't a lost cause. I brought Morelli in," I said.

"I know, Babe. I showed you some stuff to get Connie off my back, but didn't take you seriously. I didn't see you as a strong woman on a mission. I changed my mind when you called me to help you with the skip who stole your purse."

Ugh. I'd completely blocked that out of my mind for the last few years. Ranger showed up to help me and the skip ended up shooting him in the leg with my gun. "I'm really sorry about that."

He smiled again, "Lucky for you, I'm into the Henry Higgins shit."

I grinned. Ranger had said that to me that day as well.

"I don't care about being shot. It was a flesh wound. It healed. What I'm getting to is Connie calling me when I got out of the hospital to say you told her to give me the apprehension money."

I stared at him, why was he bringing this up? "You got the guy. You took the hit."

"Point being, you were at a low point and out of work, having to take the shitty job from Vinnie. I knew about your financial situation back then and knew you couldn't afford to give me the money. That day I knew there was something different about you. You put someone you hardly knew before yourself."

"I actually took fifty dollars out of the money."

Ranger looked down at his hand and I followed his gaze. He was holding a jewelry box, which was larger than a ring box, more square than one for a bracelet, and I've seen Pretty Woman enough times to know that this box looked a lot like the necklace box that Richard Gere snapped at Julia Roberts' fingers. "Fifty dollars, huh?" he asked, still looking at the box. "I guess you can't have this then."

"What is that... yeah, fifty dollars for an answering machine. Ranger, what is that?" And more importantly, where was he hiding it? He only had on a pair of boxers! I had a feeling what was in the box was gorgeous. My heart was pounding and I noticed my voice level had raised a couple of octaves.

"I never spent the money," he said, handing me the box.

"Is this box full of cash then?"

He opened the silver clasp at the front of the box. "I used it to purchase this a few weeks ago. I had it personalized and it came in this afternoon. I wanted to give it to you as soon as it came in."

I slowly lifted the lid and laid eyes on a beautiful square-shaped, light blue sapphire surrounded by a row of smaller darker blue sapphires, and another row of diamonds surrounding that. The white gold chain that held it looked sturdy and it had a lobster clasp holding it together.

"Ranger," I said, fingering the charm. "This is beautiful."

"It reminded me of your eyes," he said. "Turn it over."

On the back was an engraving in Spanish, _Cerca de tu corazón_.

"What does it say," I asked.

"'Cerca de tu corazón'. Close to your heart. My favorite place to be." He paused for a couple of beats and his finger brushed against my cheek. "I can't be here all the time, so I'd like for something I gave you to be."

I didn't know what to say. I thought that if I opened my mouth I'd cry. I took the necklace out of the box and handed it to him, moving my hair to the side. He put it around my neck and fastened it, kissing my neck.

"Mine, too." I said.

"What?"

"Your favorite place is close to my heart," I said. "That's my favorite place, too; close to yours." I kissed him lightly on the lips and felt my eyes well up. "Thank you," I whispered trying to keep it together.

I felt him smile as I kissed him again, and knew it was all 200-watts.

He pulled back a little and wiped away a tear that I tried so hard to hide. "Babe" was all he said before he brought his hands into my hair and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss.

We spent the rest of the night in our favorite places.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

I woke up on my own at ten minutes to five. Ranger had his arm draped over my hip and I slowly eased out from under it. I was going to be ready to work out when Ranger woke up.

I walked over to the closet and grabbed a sports bra, socks, underwear, RangeMan t-shirt, and a pair of stretchy shorts. I tiptoed to the bathroom and put myself together for the workout, then tiptoed back through the bedroom and through the apartment to the kitchen where I filled up the coffee maker and turned it on.

As I looked around the dark, quiet apartment I realized there wasn't much to do at this hour. Now what, Stephanie?

I went to the sink and saw the wine glasses from the night before sitting in there. I washed them and set them in the small dish drainer to the side. Then I took my hair down and put it back into a ponytail. I walked into the living room and saw the box from my necklace sitting there. I fingered the necklace and decided to take it off so I didn't sweat all over it in the gym.

Making my way back to Ranger's bedroom as quietly as I could, I set it the necklace box into the closet. Then I turned around and looked at him. The last few days he'd woken me up to work out, maybe it was time I give him a taste of his own medicine.

Do you really want to do that? I asked myself. Ranger could probably decapitate you with his bare hands.

No, I thought, he loves me. Plus, he just gave me that pretty necklace and I wouldn't be able to wear it if I didn't have a head.

Maybe I'll just sneak into bed and snuggle next to him.

I slipped into the bed next to Ranger and kissed his neck. The faint scent of his Bulgari shower gel the night before was still lingering on his body. I nuzzled in more and heard a small moan come from low in Ranger's throat. Nah, he wouldn't decapitate me.

"Time to wake up," I said to him. He opened his eyes and looked at me through his thick, dark lashes. "Good morning."

"Babe," Ranger said turning his eyes toward the clock. "It's quarter after five."

"Yeah, you slacker, and I've been up for almost half an hour."

The next thing I knew, I was under Ranger and he was kissing me. "Feeling playful?" His body was warm and hard. His _entire_ body was warm and hard.

"If you want to start something," I told him, "then write me an excuse note because I won't make the workout at six."

"You'll make the workout," Ranger said, moving down my body, slipping under the covers…

.

I ran into the gym at three minutes past six. "You're late," Valerie said from down on the floor, where she was stretching with Hal.

"Sorry," I said. "It wasn't my fault." It was Ranger's, who apparently wasn't satisfied with making me completely fall apart just three times. One thing was for sure though, I was definitely energized enough to do this exercise.

"Well, make sure you're on time tomorrow. The whole world doesn't revolve around you, Stephanie!"

"Geez, sorry, Val."

Tank came up behind me and handed me a bottle of water. "She's been like this since I picked her up."

He motioned to the part of the gym with the wooden floor. I followed him over and we started doing the workouts from a couple days ago: High Knees, Long Strides and Back Pedals. I did those for half an hour while Hal had Valerie working the weight machines. The entire time, Valerie seemed to be in a terrible mood, muttering things like "why do I bother," and rolling her eyes an excessive amount of times.

Valerie and I made our way to the treadmills at the same time. She looked like she was still in a mood.

"What's up," I asked her.

"Nothing, except that Albert Kloughn is now on my shit list."

Oh boy. "Why?"

"He came home from dinner last night and ate all of my blueberries, which isn't even the worse part. Apparently he loves blueberries, but his body hates them. He was in our bathroom all night. I had to sleep on the couch because it smelled so bad."

"Eww," I said. That was a mental image I did not want in my head.

"Men are disgusting," she said. "As soon as I get home he's going to every supermarket in the city to find more blueberries."

"Why did he eat all of them? He ate at Mom's house."

"I don't know. He's a stress eater. Something must've stressed him out at Mom and Dad's last night."

"Oh." I tried not to let my eyes grow too wide with recognition. I had a feeling Ranger's little pep talk with Albert is what led to Valerie's crabby mood this morning. "Is that all? You don't seem to be very into exercise this morning."

Valerie looked like she was about to cry and come clean about her mood, but at that moment Tank cleared his throat behind us. He and Hal were standing, arms crossed and intimidating looks on their faces. Tank pointed to the treadmills and we took that as the end of our talk session. Maybe I'd just keep an eye on her while we ran.

I programmed the machine to five miles an hour. After the first mile, my legs were slamming on the treadmill and I could feel a cramp forming in my side. I tried to breathe through my nose, because I knew my throat would start to feel raw if I opened my mouth.

"You okay?" Hal asked me. I didn't want to know how I looked at that point.

"No," I said, rubbing at the cramp in my side. "I suck at this stuff."

"You're training; it's going to suck at first."

It felt like my side was going to explode. Maybe it was Valerie's mood that was bringing me down, or just because I'm a firm believer that running sucks, but at that moment I hated the treadmill with every fiber of my being and Hal looked like a good person to complain to as I slowed the speed of the treadmill. "I agreed to do this to improve my job performance but I suck at my job, Hal! I've never been good at it! Joe said I was a freaking magnet for psychos and he's right. The only thing this treadmill is teaching me is how to run away from them. I seem to have luck on my side more often than not, but one day it's going to run out."

Hal looked past me and tensed up. I followed his line of vision. Ranger stood at the doorway and we locked eyes. I had a feeling he heard me and he didn't look too happy. I tried to gauge his temper, but before I had the chance, Valerie slipped on her treadmill and became airborne, slamming into an elliptical behind her.

I pulled the emergency stop cord on my treadmill and ran to Valerie. She looked like she had the wind knocked out of her and was trying to talk. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the swear words she was trying to say.

Hal came next to her and helped coach her with a slow breathing exercise. When her lungs worked again, she sat on the floor, a hand clutched to her heaving chest. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"What was I thinking?" Val said. "I was thinking that I could go back to a time when I was happy - a time when my clothes fit better and I didn't look so much like... like Grandma Plum. I ballooned up with my last two pregnancies and who's to say that won't happen again? Why bother? I'll just get pregnant again and put it all back on."

"Val, you wanted to do this, remember?" I told her. "You're doing a great job! So you had a bad night, it happens."

"Just put me out of my misery," she said to Ranger, who stood behind Hal. "I know you have a gun. I can't do this anymore."

Ranger knelt next to her and waited until she was calm enough to make eye contact with him. When she did, he reached behind his back and pulled out his gun. "You have two options," he said, placing the gun next to her. "The gun is plan B. Plan A is you finally realizing how strong you are. You left a life in California behind and made a better one back here. You gave birth to four beautiful children and you're doing a great job raising them. Now a little running is making you question your ability to live?"

It wasn't just the running, I thought, it was the blueberries and Albert's GI tract! Though no matter what, I was ready to pounce on her in case she chose Plan B. What was Ranger thinking?

Valerie sighed and looked at me, tears in her eyes. "Is he always right?"

I nodded and willed my eyes back into their sockets. "It comes with the super hero territory," I said looking at Ranger. "They don't understand that always being right is annoying to us mere mortals."

Ranger picked up his gun and had a very strange look in his eyes. "I need to talk to you," he said to me.

I followed him out of the gym and into the hallway by the elevator. He stopped at the corner near the elevator, and I followed suit, standing in front of him. The look in his eyes told me not to even think about trying to lighten the mood. Ranger looked angry. He could make the first move; I wasn't going to say a damn thing.

"There was a new guy," he said, "a few years ago, while I was in the wind."

"Okay."

"He was out of bullets. Then he asked to use just one of mine. He asked me the same thing your sister did."

It was hard for me to think of what possibly could have happened while he was 'in the wind' that would make someone in Ranger's team contemplate suicide.

"What happened?" I asked him. "He was with you; you wouldn't let anything happen…"

"Stop, Stephanie."

"Okay."

"Our men were dying. A man he especially looked up to was killed by a sniper right in front of him. He was in a bad place. I told him the gun was Plan B. Plan A was looking past what had happened to our friends, our brothers in arms, and finish the mission.

"I told him I couldn't bring home another body. We sat in hundred-and-ten degree heat and went over the Army Ranger Creed and what it means to do the job. I told him to realize how strong he was, how strong he could be. Nothing mattered except getting the scum who took our guys away. Getting them and destroying them. We were a team, and we had a mission. We had to bring all our men home."

He stopped talking and took a long breath through his nose. Instinct kicked in and I grabbed him, wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. He slowly put his hands on my back and head, holding me as tight as I held him. We stood there for a long time, just holding each other.

Loosening his grip on me, he continued. "When Valerie asked me to put her out of her misery, it took me back to that time. I hope she heard what she needed to hear today."

"I think she did," I said looking up into his eyes. "You handled her the way she needed to be handled, in a way only you could do it." Actually having a gun on him seemed to help, too.

He moved a curl behind my ear that must have slid out of my sloppy ponytail. He gave me a somber grin. "When you say things about not being good at your job, it bothers me because you are good at what you do. I know how things were with you and Morelli. I know he hated your being a BEA, and I know sometimes he would say that you weren't good at it."

I didn't realize I looked away until Ranger brought his hand to my chin and lifted my head so we made eye contact again. I really wasn't a good BEA. Things happened to me that never happened to Ranger or any of the other bounty hunters Vinnie employed.

He rubbed my arms with his warm hands, seemingly knowing what I was thinking. "Stephanie, you're a caring, strong, intuitive woman. Yesterday at the Marino house you went through there logically and carefully, thinking in the mind of someone else, using your senses to figure out what happened. I'm proud of you. I hope one day you'll be able to see yourself the way I see you."

I gave him a half smile. "I'm working on it."

"Have you given any more thought about training with me?"

"I've thought about it," I said. "Wait a minute. Were you just trying to butter me up there so I'd say yes?"

"Are you saying yes?" he asked.

I bit my lower lip. "I think I am." God help me.

Ranger gave me a light yet strong kiss that made my toes curl. I should tell him yes more often if he's going to kiss me like that. "I think you've said more in the last couple days than you have in a long time," I told him.

"I talk when I need to," he said. "For some reason, I needed to tell you that. Some things are hard to talk about, and some things I can't talk about, ever. The last thing I want to do is scare you away."

"I'm glad you told me," I said to him. "I like when you share things with me. There's nothing you can say that would turn me away."

Ranger looked down quickly then back into my eyes. I didn't think he believed my words, but I planned on showing him that I meant it. He slipped his arm around my waist. "I originally came down to tell you and Hal that you're working together today."

"Oh, okay, where will you be?"

"I have some work to catch up on and client meetings that I can't put off any longer. When we get word on what time the package is going to be delivered, I'll let you know and we'll officially come up with a plan."

"I just have to get to the bonds office, and if they don't have anything for me, I might come back here and do some searches for RangeMan, if it's okay with you?"

"I'd like that," he said. He walked back to the gym with me and told Hal his assignment for the day.

After the workout, Tank took Valerie back home and I went back to seven to eat breakfast, shower and get ready for the day. I threw on jeans and a stretchy, long sleeved, white t-shirt, and it all fit perfectly. TGFE, I thought, Thank Goodness For Ella! I added make up to my face, perfume to my body, and mousse to my hair. I also made sure to put my necklace from Ranger back on. I looked at the engraving and smiled. The man of mystery was opening up to me and as silly as it may sound, every time he did, I loved him even more.

I grabbed my utility belt and noticed I never ate the Tastykake. That would surely change today.

I met Hal in the RangeMan garage.

"I'm sorry you're forced to babysit me," I said to him when we were on the road to the bonds office.

"Nah, this is cool," Hal said. "It's not anything close to babysitting. To tell you the truth I think of you as any other partner Ranger or Tank would pair with me."

Hal was a sweet guy. I just had trouble believing him.

Hal and I walked into the bonds office and found Connie painting her nails a deep blood red, which happened to match her form-fitting red blouse. She looked up at us and sighed.

"Expecting someone?" I asked.

"Yeah. Lula. I have to go to the courthouse and my car's in the shop." Connie put the top on her polish and blew on her nails.

"Lula can't drive her car either," I reminded Connie. "I can stay here and you can go to the courthouse with Hal."

Hal looked toward me, a look of confusion and panic clear on his face. "I'm supposed to stay with you."

"Okay, then give Connie the keys to your car," I said, knowing he wouldn't let someone else drive his car, especially his RangeMan car.

Hal said nothing. A few beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"I'll be fine here," I told him. "I'm armed and Connie keeps a gun at her desk in case anyone gets any ideas."

"And there's a Stiletto with a push button blade in the bottom drawer," Connie added, grabbing her purse and a few file folders.

"Um, I don't know..."

"Come on, kid," Connie said as she took his arm and pulled him out of the office. "The faster we do this, the faster you can get back to guard our girl against whatever is going on at that McAllister's place."

I gave Hal a finger wave and watched Connie drag him to the RangeMan SUV like a mother bringing her cavity-riddled child to the dentist. Connie slid into the passenger seat and tugged at her black skirt. Hal's attention was immediately diverted to her legs and four-inch heels. I knew they'd be fine when Hal closed her door and smiled as he walked to the driver's side. The mother-son analogy seemed a little creepy now.

I sat at Connie's desk, looking out the window. The streets of Hamilton Avenue were starting to calm down from the morning rush hour. The shops were already open, and the elderly were well on their way to getting their daily errands completed.

I jiggled the mouse at Connie's computer to turn on the screen and, after playing a few games of solitaire, checked my email. A forward from Lula with photos of humorous bumper stickers, six emails from various Nigerian Princes asking me for help cashing their multimillion dollar checks, and the last email was from an unknown sender. I thought about putting it in the spam folder with the letters from my Nigerian suitors, but saw that it had an attachment. The files in the email all had jpg endings, so I knew they were photos. I clicked "view all" and waited as they downloaded.

One by one I saw thumbnail photos of my apartment come into focus. My bedroom, empty. My bedroom with me inside of it. Another of me looking annoyed, eyes like slits, ripping back the sheets. Of course, the next was one of me on the floor. I could feel anger course up through my veins. The picture after that showed Hal throwing my favorite lotion out of the window in an attempt to clear out the room. Then there was one of Hal carrying me out of the apartment, which I assumed was taken from the camera they found near my computer. The last four pictures were of Ranger, Hal, and Hector.

I picked up the desk phone and called Ranger.

"Yo."

"It's me. I got an email you might be interested in. There are some nice pictures of my apartment from those cameras."

"I had a feeling that would be his next move."

"I should really take my email address off of my business cards."

Ranger was silent for a few beats. "You're at the office, but Hal's SUV is at the police department."

"Oh, Connie needed to bail some people out and her car is in the shop." I didn't tell him that Hal went with her. I had a feeling he wouldn't like that. Anyway, I was safe here with Connie's small weapons arsenal.

"She couldn't take Lula's car?"

"Lula's late and her leg is broken, Tank has been bringing her in. Besides, I thought you liked Connie?" I asked.

"I do. It's Hal who should be afraid."

"It was my idea. Yell at me."

"Babe."

"Okay, but really if you want to go after Hal, you have to wait until I'm finished with him for the stun gun." Even if he did save my life when he carried me out of the apartment, I was still bitter.

"I'll call you back," Ranger said abruptly and disconnected.

I forwarded the email and pictures to Ranger, and printed them out for me as well.

About thirty minutes after they left, and still no call from Ranger, Connie and Hal pulled in front of the office. Connie opened her door first and was wearing a half smile on the side of her face away from Hal. He came out of his car and he seemed to have a smile similar to Connie's, but his posture was stiff. He looked through the office window and we locked eyes. He relaxed and held the office door open for Connie, placing his hand lightly on her back as she entered.

I moved my lips in between my teeth and bit down on them to hide the amusement I was feeling. Seeing Hal act so gentlemanly was a new thing for me, possibly for him as well. "You went easy on him, right?" I asked Connie.

"Of course, after I warned him about using that little toy stun gun of his," Connie said looking at Hal.

Hal shifted his eyes toward me. "I didn't mean anything by it," he grumbled.

Connie winked at me and jerked a thumb in the direction away from the desk, which I figured was Italian sign language for _get the hell out of my chair_. I closed the web browser and slid out of her chair, grandly gesturing to her highness to sit down.

"Have you heard from Lula?" Connie asked.

"Nope, there have been no calls whatsoever." I handed Hal the photos I printed out from my email. "I just checked my email the entire time."

I heard Hal swear under his breath, but didn't have time to acknowledge him, as my phone started ringing.

"Babe," Ranger said. "Get to your sister's house with Hal. I'll meet you there." He disconnected.

"We have to go," I said to Hal. I wasn't sure what to think, but if Ranger had meetings all morning and was taking more time off to go to Valerie's house I knew it wasn't for tea.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Hal and I parked in front of Valerie's house and walked up to Lula who was sitting on Valerie's porch, broken leg extended across a step. Tank's car was nowhere to be seen, nor was Ranger's.

"What's going on," I asked Lula.

"Tank took your sister and the babies to Albert Kloughn's mother's house." Lula said. "She left her phone in Tank's car so we were coming to drop it off. When we pulled up she was standing outside of the house, talking to herself and kicking the steps. I didn't really think anything of it, but then Tank got out of the car and grabbed the mail that was in her hands. Some fucked up shit, too. There were pictures of the babies and a note saying to take the package to that computer store at a certain time." Lula paused. "Do you think they know she's your sister?"

"I don't know," I said. "You're the only one here?"

"Damn straight. Someone has to protect the house."

We watched as Tank and Valerie pulled up in front of the house, with Ranger's Porsche Turbo pulling in behind them.

Ranger came over first nodding to me and Hal. He walked up the steps and effortlessly picked up Lula, bringing her into Valerie's house.

Lula made a whoop noise. "I always pictured this happening differently," she looked back at Tank, "Just playin'."

Hal stayed outside and the rest of us followed Ranger into Valerie's kitchen. He placed Lula in one chair and propped her leg up on another.

The photos, letter and package were sitting on Valerie's table.

I looked over the note, which stated that if Valerie loved her family, she'd do exactly as instructed, including dropping off the sealed package at 3 p.m. today.

Valerie went to a cabinet and took out a large bag of chips. She poured them into a bowl and put them on the table. She then sat down and pulled the bowl in front of her. "I don't like this," she said staring at the pictures and grabbing a handful of chips.

Ranger stood up from his chair and walked over to Valerie's fridge. I guessed Albert had come through with the great blueberry hunt because Ranger pulled out a container of blueberries, popped the lid and rinsed them under water. He then walked over to Valerie, set the blueberries down and took the chips away, throwing them into the garbage.

"Why Valerie?" I said to no one in particular.

"She's your sister," Ranger said. "He's taunting us and is getting bolder. This ends today."

Val, Lula, and I watched Ranger work. He opened the actual package that Valerie was supposed to drop off in the mailbox, pulling out a pen tracker which was taped to a black bottle. He removed the tape and asked Valerie for a new piece of tape and a plastic bag.

"There's a print here," Ranger said, handing the bag to Tank. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a tube with a cotton swab inside. He moved the swab around the bottle and stuck it back inside the tube. He put the new piece of tape on the pen, reattaching it to the bottle. "Nobody reopens this." He handed the swab to Tank.

"Take Lula to work before Connie has a stroke. Then go to RangeMan, make a few calls and get these tested. Coordinate with Anthony Marco, see if he got an email pertaining to this, and if he did, forward it to me."

Tank nodded, hoisted up Lula, and left.

"Babe," Ranger said to me, indicating that I follow him. We stood near Valerie's front door as he gave me instructions. "I have meetings all day, and won't be coming back to work before three, so I'm handing this to you."

"Handing what to me?"

"Figure out a plan of action with Hal and run it by Tank and the team at RangeMan. When everything is set, inform me and I'll be there."

Ranger wanted _me_ to plan out a take down? My heart rate kicked up and all I could picture was the surveillance footage of Ranger and Cal flying through the air. I didn't want to be responsible for anybody getting hurt. "I don't have experience with this stuff," I protested.

"You can do it," Ranger said. "You said you'd train with me, this would be part of it."

"Is this another observation?"

"I like watching you work." Ranger gave me a kiss and opened the door where Hal was keeping watch outside. Hal came in and Ranger briefly filled him in. "Keep her safe," he said to Hal.

"I can keep myself safe," I told him, not hiding my annoyance.

Ranger locked eyes with me and touched my necklace, his knuckles brushing against my chest, which gave me the good kind of goose bumps. "It's always good to have backup." Then he left.

"He is so hot," Val said when Ranger drove off. "Is that a new necklace?"

I told Val that Ranger gave it to me the night before, and we talked about it for a bit. When Val and I were kids we were never close. Now here we were, giggling and gossiping about Ranger. In a way, it was like we were making up for lost time in the sisterly bonding department. I think it helped make Valerie feel better, too, taking her mind off the package and photos.

"And you love him?" Val asked.

"I do."

"And you've told him, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know why it's so hard for me to say it, especially when all I want to do sometimes is scream it from the rooftops."

"He knows, and it's obvious he feels the same way. I think it might be hard to say because we didn't hear it much when we were growing up. Mom was more concerned with how we presented ourselves and always made sure we were fed. In her own way, that's how she said it. Though, not saying it probably screwed us up a little bit."

"Probably. It took Ranger getting shot for me to realize that I loved him. And even then I didn't tell him right away."

"All that matters is that he knows now, and that you're both happy. Now if only we could get him to pop the question…"

"Okay!" No more of this! "Things are going well and I don't want you jinxing anything." I looked over at Hal who looked like he was trying hard not to listen. "Plus, you're making Hal uncomfortable."

"Sorry, Hal," Val said. "Want some lunch?"

We settled in at Val's kitchen table and as she made meatloaf sandwiches, Hal and I talked about a plan of action.

When we were done eating, I wired Val with a kit Hal had in the back of his SUV. It was my first time wiring someone, and I hoped I did it right. We promised Valerie that we will be in the area and her wire would start recording at ten minutes to three. She seemed relieved to know that she wasn't doing this alone.

Hal and I went back to RangeMan to run the plan by everyone else. We met Lester, Hector, Tank and Zip in one of the conference rooms.

Tank started the meeting and informed the room of the fingerprint on the tape. "It's not in the database and doesn't match E.J. McAllister, so they're doing an extended search to see if they get any hits." Ranger asked to have the swab tested for illegal substances, and Tank pulled a favor he had, saying they should have the answer shortly.

Tank gestured for me to start the plan. I felt nauseous. Public speaking was not my thing, and these men were intimidating, especially when I was supposed to give them instructions.

"Okie doke," I started, shuffling a small stack of papers in front of me just so I could tap the nerves out.

"As you know, the pickup time for Anthony, actually Zip, is three. Zip will leave the building shortly, dressed as Anthony Marco would be, except in a large grey hoodie with a baseball cap to hide his face as much as possible. Go to the area of Marco's home and run around until about 2:30 when you run to the gazebo and change into Anthony's black clothes he has hidden there."

Zip nodded and I took that as a good sign. The other members were writing down what I was saying; this wasn't so bad after all.

"Valerie will walk the package to McAllister's mailbox at precisely three. She is already wired just in case. Is it possible to wire Zip as well? Or will the sweat from running mess with the tape and wire giving him an electric shock? Or-"

"He'll be fine," Tank said.

"And if he's not, he owes me money from a previous bet," Lester said. "If he gets zapped, he deserves it. I might even forgive the debt if it rattles him enough."

Zip looked at Lester. "You cheated, you don't get the money."

I continued, not wanting them to lose focus or for me to lose my nerve. "I'd like to monitor Val and Zip kind of like the cops on TV do. Can we use a van? Maybe make it look like a cleaning van or something equally inconspicuous? Hook it up with gadgets so we can monitor Val and Zip at the same time?"

Hector smiled. "Que es sabio, Saltamontes. Que es sabio."

Lester laughed.

"What?" I asked them.

Lester filled me in. "He said 'That is wise, Grasshopper. That is wise.'"

I couldn't help but smile. "If you're quite finished quoting Kung Fu in Spanish, we'll get on with it."

Hector made a gesture, signaling for me to finish. "Sorry."

"Hector, you will be in the van with me and Hal working the monitors. Valerie's going to drop the package off, and two minutes later Zip will run and pick up the package. Lester, I'd like you to do what you've been doing, monitoring the area. You should be wired as well."

I took another deep breath, shocked that this meeting was going so well. "Ranger will find us when he's finished with client meetings. No matter what I say here, his word trumps mine."

"But Stephanie is in charge until that happens," Tank said, placing his pen down, locking eyes with the rest of the men. "Ranger trusts her, so do I and so will everyone else." Lester, Hector, Hal and Zip nodded again, and I discreetly continued my deep breathing exercise.

I turned to Zip. "Zip, if you could go to the gym right now with Anthony and observe the way he runs before you leave that would be ideal. If E.J.'s monitoring you, he may be able to see something is up by your run even if he can't see your face. After the drop off, follow the same path as Anthony Marco does. Then run back to the gazebo to change. We'll have someone in place at the drop off location to observe what happens after the drop off. Any volunteers?"

Tank nodded as Zip stood up and left the room.

"Okie doke, Tank. Grab anyone that comes near the garbage can," I said. "E.J. is dangerous and has thrown explosives, chemicals, and has shot at Cal and Ranger. Please be careful."

The look Tank gave me was one that said he was seriously questioning my sanity.

I tried to think of anything I didn't cover. "Does RangeMan have people in place at E.J. McAllister's home and hang outs?"

Tank answered. "They're being monitored, but he hasn't shown up. We will grab him if and when we see him. The computer shop is closed today and Mrs. McAllister, the mother, purchased a plane ticket to Florida yesterday, leaving early this morning. We have RangeMan Miami keeping an eye on her in case her son turns up."

I nodded. "Ranger wants to get him today. We will get him today."

A sound of fierce agreeing was said throughout the room.

"I think that's it," I said. "Any questions?" There was no response. "Okay, well, meet in the garage at two."

Lester, Hal, and Tank stood up to leave. "Tank," I said, getting his attention as the other two walked out. "I have a quick question. What do we do when we get E.J.?"

Tank smiled.

"Shit. Fine. Want to relay the plan to Ranger for me?"

Tank nodded. "Where will you be?"

"Upstairs. I'm going to shower, feed Rex, and get dressed in my ass-kicking gear."

Tank looked amused. "If anything happens before you come back down, we'll call up."

.

I walked into Ranger's apartment and went to Rex's cage, which was on a side table in the dining room.

"Hey, Rex," I said, tapping on his cage. Rex was sitting at his food dish, which was already full of granola, sunflower seeds and dried fruit. Usually Rex ate what I gave him, shoved it in his cheek and went back into his soup can. Today he was sitting at the bowl, pigging out on his food, which was probably courtesy of Ella. He looked happy.

"I love Ella and being here, too. But we're going to have to go back home eventually, Rex."

Rex twitched his whiskers and went back to eating. I guess he didn't want to think about it either.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. I looked at the table and saw the CD player was still there. I turned the _Stephanie_ CD on and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata played through the small speakers. I carried the CD player into Ranger's bedroom with me and set it on the bed as I rifled through the closet.

I dressed in RangeMan polo and black jeans, topping off my outfit with a pair of black sneakers, and my utility belt, which was still fully stocked. I took the Butterscotch Krimpet Tastykake out and ate it, letting the sugar seep through my bloodstream and calm my nerves. When that didn't help I listened to the music and thought about dancing with Ranger. I let myself drift away for a couple minutes, and then turned the CD player off. Touching my necklace, I tried to channel Ranger's background music. It was almost time.

.

We had fifteen minutes before we had to meet in the garage. As I came onto the fifth floor I noticed that Anthony Marco was sitting in the conference room. I walked over and knocked on the door.

"How're you doing," I asked him.

"Okay, I guess," he answered. "I have a question."

"I can try to answer it." I noticed he was wearing a RangeMan t-shirt and gym shorts. Probably Ella took pity on him and gave him a new change of clothes.

"I know something is being planned to take E.J. down. I want in."

"You're going to have to ask…"

"The huge guy said you were in charge," he said, cutting me off.

Shit. I felt like I should allow him to come, but I didn't know what to do with him. If I kept him in the van with me, Hal, and Hector chances were he'd behave. "Fine," I said. "You will stay with me in the van, and will not try any funny business. Even if Jenny runs in front of the car, leave the job to RangeMan."

"I'll be good," Anthony said. "Pinky swear."

I linked my pinky with his, giving him my best death glare. I hope he got the message that not only would I break this pinky, I'd rip it off.

I left Anthony in the room and walked out to tell Tank we had an extra person coming along.

"Fine by me," Tank said. "This is your show." He gestured for me to follow him into his office and closed the door. "We got the results back from my contact at the lab. Do you know what Clomiphene is?"

"No?"

"Fertility medicine, used to help women ovulate. It was in a liquid form and was more potent than when it's in pill form." Tank rubbed his bald head and looked disgusted. "I have no idea what this guy is planning, but I don't think he should be allowed to procreate."

"Ugh," I said, grimacing.

"Let's get him before he tries to use it on that girl," Tank said, standing up.

I followed him out into the main area. "Is everyone ready?" I asked.

"Yes." He paused. "Uh, there's a message for you on Ranger's desk."

Tank escorted Anthony Marco down to the RangeMan garage, and I went to Ranger's office.

I saw a notepad sitting on the desk with the word _Messages_ written at the top. In the _To_ field was my name. The message that followed it was four words long: "Proud of you. –Ranger"

I folded the paper and tucked it into my pocket, and then I smiled a bit thinking about how awkward it must have been for Tank to take that message.

.

I stood in the garage with Tank, Lester, Hector, Anthony Marco, Hal, and a new addition – Ella.

"We thought Ella could drive the van," Lester said. "She could park it and enter the nearest building, if that's okay? I can take her car and park it on the other side and she can come back."

I looked at Ella. "Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, don't worry about this old girl," she said.

"Okay," I said. "Is everything set? Everyone wired? Zip is gone?"

The guys nodded. Ella and I walked to the van with Anthony, as Tank, Lester, Hal, and Hector did some male hand slapping ritual.

Ella got into the driver's seat in the van. Anthony, Hal, Hector, and yours truly packed into the back with the monitors and equipment.

"Showtime," Ella said as she pulled out of the garage.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

The drive to McAllister's took about fifteen minutes, which wouldn't have been so bad if there were seats in the back of the van. Hector, Hal, Anthony Marco and I were sitting on the lightly carpeted floor, feeling every bump in the road. Hector took this time to brief me on the workings of a small ear piece communication device. If, for some reason, I had to leave the van I'd be able to hear and communicate with everyone else who wore earpieces, as long as I stayed in range.

Ella pulled the van across the street and two house-lengths away from McAllister's. She opened the glove compartment and pulled out a black service hat and a clip board to look official. She placed the hat on her head and looked back at us. "Come back soon. I'm making you all brownies tonight," she said as she hopped out of the van, glanced at her clipboard and confidently walked into an apartment building a few steps away.

The van had extremely tinted windows so that we could see outside, but no one else could see in. Hector was in front of a wall of audio and video surveillance equipment making sure everything was hooked up. I sat next to him and Anthony Marco sat to my left. Hector said something into a microphone and we heard Lester's voice respond clearly in our earpieces as well as from a set of speakers in the van.

"Ella's safe in her car on her way back to RangeMan. If you need me, I'll be protecting the streets of Metropolis."

Hal sat with his back to the side of the van. He watched Hector pull up video feeds on the screens as well as kept watch on the street, but more often than not he watched Anthony.

"No sudden movements," Hal commented. "Otherwise the van will rock and our cover will be blown."

Anthony nodded and a gulp worked it's way down his throat. He looked back at the monitors and nervously wrung his hands.

We sat in the van until ten minutes to three. Hector turned on the signal to Valerie and Zip's wires.

"We have a Plum-Kloughn sighting," Lester voice said in the van. "Also, Tank is in place at the drop off site."

Hector picked Valerie up on the video monitors, and then we started getting feed from her wire.

"Don't know if you can hear me," she said, "but I hate this."

I noticed that she had her phone to her ear. Apparently, Valerie still worried about what others would think if they saw her talking to herself.

Hal noticed the phone, too. "I like the phone addition," he said. "Smart girl."

Anthony looked at me. "Plum-Kloughn? You related?"

"Sisters," I said, not taking my eyes off of the monitors.

"E.J. is a sick fucking bastard."

I grunted. I felt sick to my stomach watching Valerie on the monitors and wanted her out of this area as fast as possible.

Zip's voice, breathless from running, came over the system. "I have a visual of Valerie; I'm setting my watch and will get there two minutes after drop off."

At 3 p.m. on the dot, Valerie walked up to the mailbox at McAllister's, put the package in and walked away. "I'm going home now," Valerie said. "I'm going to pick up my kids and kiss the crap out of them."

A minute later, Lester updated us. "Ranger just pulled up next to Valerie; pretty sure he's taking her home."

Relief flooded my system. That worked for me, she'd be safe with Ranger, and they both were safe driving away from here.

"Going in to retrieve the package," Zip said.

We saw Zip coming up the street, heading for McAllister's. He really looked like Anthony in the black clothes and glasses. Good call on Ranger's part.

Lester's voice came over the van. "Be advised, a car that looks like E.J.'s just drove past; it's heading your way."

I noticed Anthony's hands clench. I flicked a nervous glance to Hector and Hal. This wasn't part of the plan. "Let's see what he does," I said into my microphone to Lester. "He could be armed. Is Zip…"

"Zip is armed and vested," Hal said. "If E.J. gets out of the car, we could end this right now."

We heard a car squeal around the corner, and an engine revving toward the store. Hector was able to zoom one of the cameras in on E.J.'s face which was twisted with anger. He wasn't wearing the Terminator leather and helmet today. He also wasn't slowing down; his sights were set on Zip. Or as he saw it, on Anthony Marco.

Zip held the package he'd picked up from the mailbox and turned his focus to E.J.'s car which was making an alarmingly loud acceleration noise. The car ran up onto the sidewalk in front of Zip, screeching to a stop. The door flew open and E.J. came out of the car holding a baseball bat.

Anthony, who had been practically vibrating with anticipation and anger, jumped into the front seat of the van and busted out of the door before any of us could stop him.

I wasn't going to rip his pinky off, I was going to rip his entire face off.

"Let him go," Hector said. "McAllister still doesn't know we're in here."

Hal nodded, keeping his hand on the back door handle. "They'll fight it out and we'll move in. E.J. can't run. They won't go far."

We watched out the window and listened to the audio playing off of Zip. I've heard Ranger use the term FUBAR before, but now I knew exactly what he meant.

"Where's Jenny, Marco?" E.J. asked Zip. He still didn't realize that Anthony was behind him.

Hector, Hal and I exchanged glances. Why was E.J. asking where Jenny was?

"Is that your weapon of choice today," the real Anthony yelled behind E.J. "No chemicals? No explosives?"

E.J. whipped around, obviously not expecting to see two Anthonys. "Who the fuck is this?" he said pointing to Zip. "What's going on here?"

"Just wait until they get into it," Hal said. "Then we'll break them up and take them back to RangeMan."

Anthony and E.J. were screaming at each other about where Jenny was. They were both yelling at the same time and I couldn't differentiate anything other than Jenny's name and a few choice swear words. Zip stood there holding the package, not knowing what to do. I never discussed a Plan B.

Suddenly, Anthony and E.J. lunged at one another, punches were thrown, and the bat lay forgotten on the ground.

"Now!" Hal said, jumping out of the back of the van with Hector close behind him. I came out behind them and watched as Hector subdued Anthony, Hal grabbed E.J., and Zip dropped the package, holding his gun steady at E.J.

"Ranger's heading your way," I heard Lester say in my earpiece. "I have a clear shot on E.J. if he tries anything. Steph, where are you?"

"Next to the van," I yelled.

The back of my neck prickled, and not in a good way. I had a feeling I was being watched. I turned around and looked down the alleyway behind me. On the other end of it, dressed in head to toe leather, was the Terminator guy, and it obviously wasn't E.J. He gave me a small wave, acknowledging that he saw me, and then pulled out a black box from his pocket.

I've seen a box like that before and knew right away that it was a remote, and knowing this guy it wasn't for the television. I turned to the others and screamed "BOMB!"

It was like the earth stood still. Anthony and E.J. stopped resisting Hal and Hector. Zip lowered his gun slightly and locked eyes with me.

I had a quick vision of Ranger and Lester not being able to hear me, being too close to the area. I held my earpiece and screamed as loud as I could, "GET AWAY FROM THE FUCKING STORE!"

The sound of a small explosion came from the computer store. The guys ran back just as a much larger explosion burst through the windows and out into the street, taking E.J.'s car with it. I was the furthest and the blast knocked me a few feet back, into the brick wall of the alley. I heard nothing from my ear piece and didn't know what to do: see if the guys were alright, or try to subdue this guy myself.

I heard some yelling coming from the store and looked back at the Terminator guy and he was walking away. I grabbed the wall I landed against, stood up and after making sure my legs were steady, took off after him. Ranger was right, this was going to end today.

The Terminator was walking at a leisurely pace which infuriated me even more. I took the Maglite out from my utility belt and lunged at him full force. I got my hands around his helmet and wrapped the Maglite around his neck, squeezing as hard as I could.

He made a slight grunting noise and chuckled. I felt a familiar sizzle, and my world went black.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

I could feel myself waking up, the effects of the stun gun wearing off. The smell of an old basement surrounded me as I realized I was lying on the floor. Cautiously, I opened my eyes and looked around. There was a toilet next to a utility sink in a small room opposite of where I lay, and the only thing I could hear was the loud hum of a fridge.

"He's not here," a woman's voice said behind me.

I turned my head and saw Jenny Marino sitting on a red plaid couch. She looked perfectly at ease in jeans and a hot pink polo shirt, her blonde hair in a messy bun, reading a water-damaged issue of Entertainment Weekly featuring the Summer Movie Previews of 1996. The only thing out of place was a chain attached to a cuff on her ankle. "Jenny, how long have you been here?" I asked.

"Too long," she said. Her eyes glistened with tears. "Oh, Anthony," was all she managed to say before she started sobbing.

I wasn't used to handling this kind of emotion. I stood up and started walking over to her before hearing the scraping sound of metal on concrete. I was chained, too. I sat next to her and took the magazine away, setting it on the arm of the sofa. "Jenny, what happened? How did you get down here?" I glanced around, trying to look for a way out, "and why aren't there any windows?"

She stopped crying and looked at me. "I don't know. The last thing I knew I was in my house, taking a quick rest on the couch. Then I woke up in this place like you just did. That was two days ago." She paused and looked around the room. "If I told you I'm fairly certain we're in a bomb shelter, would you believe me?"

There wasn't much I wouldn't believe anymore. I'd been in stranger situations than this. "How do you figure it's a bomb shelter? It just seems like a windowless basement to me."

"Well," Jenny said, grabbing the magazine off the sofa and laying it on her lap, "The entire room is made of concrete. Usually with basements you can see the floorboards of the house above your head. I banged against the ceiling a few times and could hear the faint pang of metal. I think we're in a metal shelter which was reinforced with cement."

"I don't know, lots of basements could sound that way. It definitely smells like a basement."

"I think anything that's housed in the dirt has this smell," Jenny said. "In the next room there's a climate control switch, and an extensive ventilation system. There's also a fridge in there if you're hungry or thirsty. He's not starving us."

"Who's he?" I asked, getting up from the couch, dragging my chain to the room with the fridge.

"I don't know who he is," she said. "Grab me a pop, will ya?" she asked.

Her question made me pause. "What kind of pop?" I asked, turning to her.

"The last I checked there was only Pepsi," she said.

I turned and made my way into the kitchen.

When I first met Jenny, I pegged her as an idiot blonde with huge boobs, used as a buffer for the computer store. All she had to do was answer phones, handle the cash register and sweet talk to a few customers. Now I think Ranger was right in suspecting something being off with her. Her background check was extremely brief, she had knowledge of bomb shelters, and she just used the word "pop" while most of Jersey used the word soda, or just the name of the drink.

I grabbed two bottles of Pepsi out of the fridge, which was well stocked with groceries, including fresh fruit, vegetables, and lunch meat. This could be worse, I thought.

Walking back out to Jenny, I noticed she now had a pen with her magazine.

"Wanna help me with this crossword puzzle?" she asked, taking the Pepsi from my outstretched hand.

"Why the hell not," I said. "I assume you looked all around for a way out, right?"

"Yep. There's a sealed door just past the kitchen. Couldn't get very far being attached to these things anyway," she said, tugging her ankle chain.

I knew Ranger would be looking for me and strangely enough, I felt pretty comfortable with Jenny. She exuded a carefree attitude, with the exception of crying over Anthony, which I took to mean she wasn't afraid. It was rubbing off on me.

"I need quiet to think," Jenny said, moving close to me. "Just follow along and grab the pen if you can think of anything," she whispered through her teeth.

"Okay," I said, but what I was really thinking was: weird-o!

Jenny picked up her pen and started underlining letters on the page. She wasn't doing a crossword; she was trying to tell me something. I followed along as she spelled out CAMERA IN CORNER. I started looking up but she cleared her throat, drawing my attention back to the paper.

ED MCALLISTER was the next thing she spelled out. My breath caught and my heart slammed into my throat. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Shh," Jenny said handing me the pen. "If you have something that fits the squares better, fill it in."

I grabbed her pen and underlined E. J.

"Absolutely not," she muttered.

"How do you know?" I asked.

She took the pen and underlined I A M F B I.

I couldn't help laughing. Ranger was right. "I concede. Your answer makes much more sense. What a good actress."

"An Academy Award winning performer," Jenny agreed, setting the magazine down.

I looked at her and shook my head. I had so many questions and no idea where to start. Was she going to make me underline letters in the magazine and pretend for the camera that we were doing a crossword all day long?

My questions would have to wait to be answered, as we heard something slam against the door in the kitchen.

We heard the sound of the door opening, closing, and a loud locking sound. We watched the doorway as the Terminator appeared, dressed in leather from head to toe. He reached up and removed his helmet.

Jenny was right. Ed McAllister was the Sure Guard spraying, GD poisoning, computer store bombing, stun gunning Terminator.

"Ladies," he said as he continued removing the rest of the leather revealing a McAllister's polo and a pair of khakis underneath. "Glad you both could join me today. I'd like to think of today as the start of the rest of our lives."

"I don't understand," I said. "I thought E.J. was doing all of this. When we questioned you about E.J. yesterday you seemed genuinely concerned."

"Darling Stephanie, I am a man of many faces. E.J. hasn't done anything here, except help with his terrible anger problem, which I obviously used to my advantage to keep the focus off of me. My son was never serious about the real family business."

"The computer store?" Jenny asked.

"That's just to pass the time," Ed said waving his hand dismissing the question. "I couldn't have a worker, let alone son, in my company only doing the minimum forty hours a week. I needed a serious employee, who wanted to make money by any means necessary. I had a runner for a son who ran instead of working the extra hours each day processing chemicals for our true business. That was a silly habit that I put an end to."

"It was you," Jenny said. "You're the one who sprayed Sure Guard into the air at that race, causing him to break his leg."

Ed raised his eyebrows toward her. "You're smarter than I thought, young lady. How did you know it was Sure Guard?

"I saw the hospital reports," she said. Then when Ed's face changed to one of suspicion. She quickly followed up, "I have a friend who works in the hospital. She wanted to know if the runners were okay. What is Sure Guard?"

"You'll learn, my dear. I'll teach you all you need to know in order to make and distribute it."

I was so confused. "So, the computer store is just a front for the real business of making chemical weapons?"

"All kinds of chemicals, my dear. I work with a wide range of chemicals, creating tools that help my clients."

"Who are your clients?" Jenny asked.

"I work with a plethora of underground chemical processors. It's a symbiotic relationship. They get me the ingredients and I make whatever they need. I tried to teach E.J. but he wanted nothing to do with it."

"If E.J. had nothing to do with this," I said. "Then what's with the court case against him a little while back?"

"I got into a little trouble and promised E.J. the business if he covered up for me and took the fall for the chemicals. One of my very loyal international clients provided the lawyer who got E.J. off scot-free."

"But you reneged on your deal," I said. "You blew up the computer store."

Jenny's head snapped up. "WHAT!"

"A necessary move, unfortunately. I hoped to catch E.J. and that idiot Anthony Marco with it, along with the security team, eliminating them all. I had other plans for you, Miss Plum, so I waited until you saw me before activating the bomb."

"Are E.J. and Anthony okay? Are they all okay? What happened?" Jenny sobbed. "Why would you try to kill your own son?"

I'm glad she asked, because I couldn't find the words. I thought about the scene in front of the computer store. Hector, Hal, Zip, Anthony, and even E.J were right in the path of the blast. If any of them were injured it would've been my fault as I came up with the plan. Oh God, and where were Ranger and Lester when the store exploded? I hoped they were far away, training their guns on E.J. I hated having this empty, hollow feeling in my chest not knowing how any of them were.

"With any luck they're all dead," Ed said. "Kids are dispensable. I failed with E.J., and would like to start over. That's where the two of you come in handy. We're going to live happily ever after with our soon to be family. I will teach them about chemistry, computers, and the wealthy clients who pay a lot for the services I provide."

This guy was seriously off his rocker. I couldn't let myself believe that they were dead. After the store exploded, I heard some of them yelling as I ran after Ed. Ranger was fine and knowing him he was out looking for me. The thing that worried me was that I wasn't carrying my purse, and I knew he kept a tracker in there. He did have other ways of finding me though. Once, Con Stiva, undertaker extraordinaire, had me locked in a cabinet with a plan to chop me into little pieces and blame his dead stepson, Spiro. Ranger held an old lady at gunpoint and forced her to open the tax records office where he found the house I was staying in. He saved my life. I had to believe he would save us.

"So, what was with the packages then?" I asked Ed.

He pulled up a small chair and sat in it, watching us. "That? That was just to have some fun with Anthony Marco. He violated Jenny's car and scared her enough to get a restraining order against him. Eventually I knew that E.J. would find out that Anthony was the one picking up and dropping off packages, and if I played my cards right, Anthony would think it was E.J. running this scheme, threatening to hurt you, Jenny, which I don't plan to do if you cooperate. "He took a deep breath and smiled, as if reliving a wonderful memory. "It worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Did you see them? They wanted to kill each other. I knew I'd seal the deal with the bomb in the store."

I could hear Jenny breathing slowly through her nose, trying to calm herself down. So I tried to keep McAllister talking. I used my fingers to count off the things he has done while being in his Terminator clothes. "Why would you kidnap us, blackmail all of those people saying you'd hurt their families if they didn't comply, screw around with your security company, try to _kill_ them when they were trying to protect your store, try to kill me with a chemical weapon, and mess with an innocent runner?"

"I would never hurt the families of those people because I knew I could count on them to show up with the package. I picked people who had a predictable routine. It was all just to toy with Anthony. Though . I chose your sister because of the obvious. I knew you would be in the area watching out for her and would come after me once you saw me. I also knew that if I got the message to E.J. that Anthony Marco was the one involved with the mailbox, he'd go and they'd fight. I'd then blow up the store and take them both out. Only after you saw me, of course. I didn't want you to get hurt."

He continued, "Jenny asked me to contact RangeMan when the packages started scaring her. I figured, why not? Let them run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Though, it did catch me off guard when you fingered Anthony so quickly. And I did not like how close Mañoso and the other man got to my store yesterday, searching it for clues; not alerting me of their intentions. "

"You almost killed them! They were trying to protect your store and your family and you tried to kill them."

"Warning shots."

"You got one of them in the chest! Luckily he had a vest on, but he could have died!"

Ed waved his hand, dismissing the statement. "I apologize for spraying you with sure guard, and also for the stunt with your bed. I do not apologize for what I did yesterday."

I looked at him. I didn't know where to go with this anymore. This guy was crazy. "Where did you get the photos of me when you placed the letter to RangeMan in your mailbox this past Sunday?"

"I had surveillance cameras installed in Anthony's house. When you showed up on Friday, I decided to do some research on you." He stopped and locked eyes with me in a very creepy, very intense way. "Darling Stephanie, I thought you would just be a wrench in my plans, but I learned to appreciate your tenacity. When I saw you on the cameras I set up in your apartment and how angry you became when you noticed I made your bed, I decided not to end your life. So I called that oaf you had with you in the apartment to get you out of there."

"So what was in the packages?" I asked. "Where did Anthony bring them when he picked them up from the computer store?"

Ed stood up and walked to the fridge, coming back with an apple. He walked to a part of the wall and pressed something that made a keypad shoot out near his hand. He keyed in a code and we heard the sound of metal moving, kind of like an elevator. A few more buttons were pressed and a small section of wall opened.

"I must say," he said, "that I quite enjoyed having Anthony Marco pick up and deliver these every day. Unknowingly, helping us start our family."

I noticed Jenny was silent, looking at me. I looked back at her and she winked. I hope she had a plan, and I hope she knew I wasn't telepathic and had no idea what she was trying to communicate to me.

Ed stood at the wall removing packages that looked like the ones Anthony Marco had been delivering the last week. I wondered if they all contained the same fertility stuff that Tank's contact was able to detect from the swab. Then a creepy thought came over me. Was he planning on using that stuff on me and Jenny to build his "family"?

"Where did those come from?" I asked.

Ed put the packages under his arm and closed the wall, the keypad slinking back into place. "We are about twenty feet underground, in a shelter made to withstand most, if not all, disasters. It's reinforced by steel, cement, and titanium. There are two ways to the outside world. One is this dumbwaiter, which connects to a garbage can in an empty lot, which is where Anthony has been delivering these packages. The other is the door in the kitchen, which attaches to a tunnel about a city block long; it comes up in one of my properties."

YES! A property he owns is attached to this room. I was even more certain Ranger would find us. Plus, if Jenny really is FBI, they're on the case, too, so they must be looking for her as well.

"What's in the packages?" Jenny asked him, repeating my earlier question.

Ugh, you don't want to know, I thought, trying to hide a grimace.

"What's in this is something that will kick start our family. When I get it all set up, I'd like to start right away. You can either ingest it orally, or I can inject it into you. We'll make sure that you don't get sick after I inject you with it, and then we'll consummate our new relationship."

He _was_ planning on using it on us! Gross!

"Are they safe? You said they came from a garbage can?" Jenny asked.

"Of course they're safe. It's a hidden can that only the Marco kid knows about. He's been delivering the packages to it every day."

Jenny looked at me again and smiled. "Well, I kind of always wanted to be a mom. I never seriously thought about it with E.J. and Anthony because they seemed so… inexperienced."

God, I hoped she was kidding.

"I can help you there," Ed said. "We will be very happy together."

Jenny grinned toward him. "Why did you choose us? Why gift us with the ultimate gift of children?"

"Your hips, Jennifer, were made for birthing babies." What the hell did that mean! "And Ms. Plum was chosen more last-minute. She showed great perseverance. I'd like for that trait to be passed onto my new children."

I remembered the conversation at my parents' dinner table the night before, and I bet Tony Randall didn't inject his lady with potent fertility drugs and keep her in an underground dungeon to make potential terrorist babies.

Jenny sighed and lifted her leg. "Can you take these chains off of us? If we're going to really do this, I'd really like to feel like I was part of the team, not a prisoner."

I nodded. I didn't know what Jenny planned on doing, but I hoped she had some kind of FBI combat training under her belt.

Ed looked us over for a full minute before responding. "One at a time," he said. "Jennifer, since I know you a little more and you're not as feisty as Ms. Plum, you can be first."

Ed took a key chain attached by a retractable cord from the waist of his pants, unlocking the cuff and chain from Jenny's ankle. It thudded to the ground as she stood up from the couch. She lifted her leg and rubbed her ankle, easing it back to the ground. She leaned in and grabbed Ed in an embrace made for lovers.

Jenny looked up at him and he looked down at her. Then it happened. In a move quicker than blinking, Jenny raised a fist and slammed it into the side of McAllister's neck.

He looked stunned and grabbed the area where she punched him. His eyes stayed on her and the last thing he whispered before his knees gave out was, "You bitch."

"I can handle being a bitch," Jenny said checking for a pulse and grabbing for the keychain around his waist. She unhooked the keys and unlocked my chain. "Help me get him onto the chair."

I grabbed the wooden chair Ed had been sitting in earlier and moved it close to his body. "Is he dead?" I asked.

"No, if he were, why would we sit him in this chair?"

I didn't want to tell her it wouldn't be my first time positioning a dead body in a chair, so I shrugged. "Just asking."

We hoisted his body onto the chair and Jenny immediately ran around him stringing one of the chains around his body.

I couldn't help but think that if my mother ever found out about this, she'd scold me at turning down my last chance at a family.

"What kind of move was that?" I asked. "You whacked him in the neck and he just kind of fell?"

"Krav Maga. When you do it you have to be careful. I just put him to sleep but one wrong move and he could've died. The hit has to be quick, heavy, and directly on the neck below the ear, causing the heart rate to slow down and muscles to stop responding." Jenny attached the cuff to Ed's ankle and started wrapping the second chain around his body. "Maybe one day I'll give you a lesson. It'd be easier for your line of work."

"I'll say." I watched as she finished cuffing the chain on his other ankle. "You're really FBI, aren't you?"

"Yeah, and it was killing me to sit down here for two days. I couldn't act until I had a full confession from him. Thank you for helping me with that. I felt a little fuzzy when he mentioned Anthony…"

I nodded. "I know, I really think he's fine. I'm pretty sure I heard him after the explosion. But… how can you prove a full confession from Ed?"

"Well, there's the camera in the corner which I'm sure is connected to his home computer, and I hope if need be you'd be a witness. Then there's this," Jenny said pointing to a pretty gold watch on her wrist. "Voice recorder and GPS device."

The watch was pretty and better than a pen tracker. I really liked it. At least I'd be able to take it off when I didn't want to be found.

Jenny made sure the chains were tight and that McAllister's pockets were empty. She tossed the keys into the air and caught them. "Ready?"

"Very," I said. We picked up the packages and headed toward the door. "So, you've been undercover for a while then?"

"Yep, Ed has been at it for a long time. They put me on the job because I'm young enough to get in well with E.J. and his friends."

"So, Anthony…?"

"I didn't see myself falling in love with Anthony, but it happened. It killed me to cheat on him. I feel like a fraud. He doesn't even know my real name."

"What is your real name?"

"My first name really is Jennifer, but my last name is Schultz."

"I take it you're going to drop the charges against him?"

"Yeah, I think so," she said sticking a key in the lock, which didn't work. "But I know that you only get paid when you bring someone in. So you can bring him in. He did defile my car, after all."

I laughed. "You should forgive him. He was a wreck when he found out that you were missing. He's been a wreck this entire time."

"I'm sure your guy is feeling the same way right now," Jenny said.

"My guy?"

"Carlos. Do you think I didn't know? I'm FBI, we do our research," she said smiling. "I suggested RangeMan to Ed a long time ago because I knew Mr. Mañoso comes highly recommended."

Jenny stopped trying the lock. "Speaking of," she said, grabbing my arm. "Step back."

I heard the familiar sound of gunshots on the other side of the door. Then one large, black combat boot kicked it open. Ranger came in gun drawn with Tank and Lester flanking him on each side. He looked at me and Jenny standing there and let out a quick breath of air. "Are you okay?" he asked us.

"We're cool," Jenny said jiggling the keys. "The guy you want is in there."

"McAllister?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Tank got a hit on the fingerprint."

Ranger, Tank and Lester spread out and went to the doorway to where they found McAllister unconscious, chained to a chair. You could see the tension lift right off their bodies. It must've been a lot of tension because huge grins spread across their faces and laughter so deep, rich, and contagious boomed throughout the place.

Ranger walked over and wrapped his arms around me. "Everyone is fine," he said into my ear. "Valerie is home with her family. No one was seriously injured in the blast."

I felt an invisible weight lift off of my chest. "How did you find us?" I asked him.

"Your necklace is personalized," he said.

"What does the engraving have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't," he smiled and fingered the necklace. "It's personalized with a very small GPS. Cerca de tu corazón, close to your heart."

Just like Jenny's watch, I thought. I had my own little device and didn't even know it.

"You were tracking me," I said. "Jeez, who the hell is your jeweler? Iron Man?"

"Something like that," Ranger said, smiling.

Lester piped in. "We followed the signal to the area above here. We thought maybe McAllister ripped it off and threw it into the lot, taking you somewhere else. His house was close by, so we went there next. Then Tank found your utility belt near a hidden door in the basement that led us here, back toward the tracking signal. "

"The tracking device is similar to one inserted into human skin. I figured you'd prefer this option," Ranger said.

"You were tracking me," I said, again, trying my best to sound indignant.

"Babe, I've been tracking you for years. It's only bothering you now?"

I glared at him. I didn't want to tell him that not even ten minutes ago I was considering getting a watch that had the same function, just like Jenny's. "You just wait," I said.

"Another lion attack? You never did follow through with the last one," he said.

"A lion attack of sorts. You want me to learn how to physically protect myself, right?"

"Yes."

"Then get ready, Carlos. You're going to be in for a world of hurt," I said poking his chest to emphasize the last three words.

Ranger instructed Tank to stay with McAllister as Lester escorted Jenny through the tunnel and back to the real world where the Trenton PD, FBI, and probably the majority of RangeMan were waiting.

I started leaving when Ranger grabbed my hand.

He was silent for a few beats, and then his breathtaking two hundred watt smile stretched across his face. "You called me Carlos," he said, looking surprised.

Shit. I threaten him and he smiles about my using his name? "You got a problem with that?" I asked him. I really tried to be intimidating, which was near impossible when he unleashed that smile.

"No," he said. "I liked it." He put his arms around me and lifted me off the ground, kissing me with a passion I felt from my lips all the way to my toes.

I wondered if I should call him that all the time now. I was used to calling him Ranger. Everyone called him Ranger.

"Babe," Ranger said reading my mind, "You can still call me Ranger," he tucked a curl behind my ear, and leaned down to softly talk into it, "but I'm going to have you screaming 'Carlos' when I get you back to my bed."

Omigod!


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Ranger and I stood next to his Porsche 911 Turbo in front of the Trenton cop shop and courthouse, which were housed in the same no-nonsense brick building. We had just left the cop half, giving statements about the week's activities to the cops and the feds. We were both wearing sunglasses, his were mirrored, mine were a knock off designer brand I got from a guy's trunk on Stark, and our eyes showed exhaustion behind the lenses. We had very little sleep the night before, but in no way would I complain about it. I fulfilled my fantasy to have Ranger on his desk. And, yes, Ranger kept his promise of having me scream his name. Over and over.

_And over!_

We watched as Jenny Marino, or Schultz, and Anthony Marco came out of the courthouse hand-in-hand. It was Friday and he kept his verbal pinky promise by letting me take him in. I did remind him that he also pinky promised not to get involved in the drop off with E.J., but since Jenny probably saved us early from a potentially bad situation, I let it go. I wasn't much for bone breaking anyway. I collected his body receipt and shortly after Jenny dropped the charges against Anthony.

And the best part? Since I brought Anthony in, I didn't have to exercise this morning. I did promise to start seriously training with RangeMan on Monday. Valerie got the day off, too, but only because she was called in to the police station to give her own statement. Then she'd be working out with Tank for one last day before being set loose in the real world. Who knows? Maybe she'll start running seriously and compete in marathons with Anthony.

"They look happy," I said to Ranger about Jenny and Anthony.

"You're not going to get weepy about this are you?"

"I kind of like them."

"I saw the video this morning of what happened down in McAllister's shelter," Ranger said. "You were both good. Level headed, and worked well together."

"Jenny was the good one," I corrected him. "The way she punched his neck… I've never seen anyone go down like that." I had to learn that move.

"I'll teach you, or maybe she can. Word is she's requesting a transfer to the area. She's originally from Western New York."

That reminded me. "Do they say 'pop' instead of 'soda' in Western New York?"

"I caught that slip up on the video, too," he said. "And yes, they do."

Anthony and Jenny saw us and immediately smiled. They crossed the street and came over to Ranger's car. Anthony was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a picture of a garden gnome pouring a beer onto the ground, the caption on it said "One for My Gnomies." Jenny wore a black suit with a white blouse and a pair of shiny black shoes with a respectable heel. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail and she wore simple black sunglasses. She looked different, though I couldn't put my finger on the exact reason why.

"Hey," Anthony said, grinning broadly. "My girlfriend is a federal agent."

And my boyfriend was Batman. One day he'll learn to not broadcast it.

"So the charges were dropped?" I asked him.

"Yeah, technically no charges were ever filed because Jennifer Marino ceases to exist. I'm dating a Schultz from Rochester. And I still have both of my pinkies. What more can a guy ask for?"

I grinned. As much as I tried not to, I liked him.

"You look different," I said to Jenny.

She smiled. "Yeah, I retired Jenny Marino's Wonderbra. I lost two cup sizes overnight, thank goodness."

Ah-ha! That was it. Jenny boobs were smaller and fit her body much better. I didn't feel so inadequate standing next to her now.

"What's the word on the McAllisters?" Ranger asked Jenny.

"We caught up with the wife looking for a new home in Florida. Turns out ol' Ed set her loose a few days before with two million dollars, which unfortunately we had to confiscate. However she will get the insurance money from the computer store explosion. As it turns out, the entire place was in her name, Edna McAllister, and since she knew nothing about her husband's exploits, she'll get a nice insurance settlement."

"What about E.J.?" I asked Jenny.

"E.J. is still in there. There's a lot of mess to get sorted out, but he'll be fine, especially after getting the confession from his dad on record last night. By the way, Ed has pled guilty and waved all rights to an attorney. He knew he was recorded and knew we had him.

"He's given up names on who he was buying from, and who he was selling to. We got what we needed to take a few more people down and Ed's on his way to federal prison. From what I understand, E.J. and his mom are going to rebuild the store and live in apartments they plan on building above it." She looked at Anthony, "Maybe I'll apply for a part time job there."

"Like hell you will," he said, kissing her. "My girlfriend is a federal freakin' agent."

We said our goodbyes and I looked up at Ranger. "Are you as tired as I am?"

"Yes. I told Tank as of this morning you and I are 'in the wind'."

"Great, your bed is just what I need right now."

"Sorry to disappoint, but we're not going back to my bed."

"Well we can't go to mine… I don't have one."

"I'm taking you to spend the weekend in New York. The Rangers are playing two preseason games tonight and tomorrow at The Garden. We're going."

I looked at him and couldn't help but smile about him taking me to see my favorite hockey team. "Really?"

"We're already packed. If you want to visit the team store beforehand for game gear, I'll buy you whatever you want just to see 'Rangers' written diagonally across your chest." He trailed his finger across my body in the direction the Rangers logo went.

Ranger walked me over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for me. "We have one more place to go," he said as I sat down.

"Where," I asked, but he already closed the door.

I asked again when he sat on his side. "Hal wants to apologize to you," he told me as he pulled into traffic.

"What? Why?"

"He took the phrase 'Keep her safe' very seriously."

I placed one hand on Ranger's leg and watched the scenery pass by. "Ranger?"

"Yes?"

"You know I love you, right? Sometimes it's hard to say it and I don't know why. Valerie thinks it's because our parents rarely said it to us except by means of food when we were growing up, which could be true, and kind of makes sense…"

"Babe," he said grinning. "I love you, too."

Eventually we pulled up in front of the bonds office where Hal was outside waiting for us. I wondered if he was there on RangeMan business, or Connie business.

"Wait for me," Ranger said as he got out of the car.

I let him open my door and pull me out. We leaned against the car and waited for Hal to walk over to us.

Ranger reached into his pocket, pulled out something small and black, and tucked his arm behind my back. I knew what it was. To the normal eye, no one would have seen what Ranger pulled out. The normal eye would think this was a normal, loving boyfriend gesture; holding his girlfriend close after thinking he could have lost her. "Hal's been beating himself up the last few hours," he said. "You might want to assure him you're alright."

Hal came over and hesitated, looking from Ranger to me. Ranger nodded to Hal.

"Jeez, Steph, I'm sorry. I lost you on my watch. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Hal. Are you okay? You were right there for the explosion," I said to him, reaching around my back to Ranger's hand.

"All in a day's work," he said, rubbing his head. "It happened so fast."

"It's okay, really. It's not like this hasn't happened before," I told him.

"I wish I could believe it's all okay," he told me, but more looked toward Ranger.

"Hal," Ranger said. "You're going to have to make it up to her."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I didn't get my workout in this morning. Do you mind going for a run?" The last thing I wanted to do was run, but I really liked what Ranger had in mind.

Hal looked from Ranger to me. "Uh, I guess so."

"It's actually more of a game," I said. Ranger slipped the little black stun gun into my hand and I pulled it in front of me, turning it on. "It's called _Catch_."

Hal's eyes grew wide and his face quickly drained of color. "You're not seriously going to stun me again, are you?"

"Not if I can't catch you," I said as Ranger removed his arm from behind me.

**THE END**

_(Well, almost!)_

_.  
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_A/N:__ Please keep an eye out for the epilogue to Getting Physical With RangeMan. In the meantime, I'd love to know what you all thought of this story. Questions, comments, suggestions – good and bad – all feedback is appreciated.  
><em>

_**To Sonomom and Jago-ji:**__ Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your help and encouragement while I wrote this story and especially when I posted. _

_I hope everyone who has read this story will take the time to look at the stories by these two authors. I am constantly in awe of their writing abilities and I know you will be, too. _

_**To the reviewers:**__ Thank you for leaving comments on my story and for getting so involved. I loved reading your feedback and talking to those of you who left signed reviews through the FF messaging system. How cool is it that the shared love of a few book characters brought us all together like this?_

_Thank you, everyone! (And stay tuned for the epilogue!)_

_Gina aka LoveTheWizard_


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Rex lay in front of his soup can, looking tired and sad. He'd never acted this way before, and usually was interested in exploring his surroundings when his tank was relocated. Today was the day I moved back into my apartment and Rex didn't seem to care about his surroundings. He didn't seem to care about anything. I was afraid something was really wrong with my oldest and dearest animal friend.

"I think Rex is sick," I said, looking over at Ranger.

Ranger placed a bag of clothes on my kitchen counter and glanced at the tank. "He's not sick."

"How do you know? He won't run on his wheel and kind of looks like he's in pain. Maybe he broke something," I said, reaching into the tank and rubbing my little hamster.

Ranger looked at me and back at Rex. "He's sad."

I had to do a mental double-take. Did Ranger just turn into the hamster whisperer or were we talking through Rex again like we did the last night we were in this building? The night Ed McAllister decided to cover my bed with a WMD, causing us to temporarily move in with Ranger.

We stayed with Ranger for almost three months while the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, various governmental HAZMAT teams, and finally a cleaning crew, worked in my apartment. When Ranger finally got the call that the apartment was clean, it took him a week and a half to tell me, reasoning that he wanted to take some security precautions and it would be easier if I stayed with him while his team worked on it.

When I walked into the apartment a few minutes earlier, I noticed that my floor bolt was back, as well as an actual security system was installed on the wall. I was sure there was other stuff, but I didn't ask.

"Rex is sad?" I asked, repeating Ranger.

"Maybe he didn't want to leave my apartment."

The truth was, even I didn't want to leave Ranger's apartment! I felt like I had to for the sake of our relationship. Not that we were having problems, everything was great and I desperately wanted it to stay that way. When I dated Joe Morelli and would spend long periods of time at his house, we'd always end up having a huge, stupid fight and I'd have this apartment to run back to. I didn't want to get under Ranger's skin and end up having an argument. I figured moving back here was a precaution. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that… right?

Ranger and I stared at each other for a good minute. "Did you finally develop a soft spot for Rex?" I asked him.

"No. Just one for his adoptive mother."

"You've had one for her for a long time," I said nudging him with my elbow.

Ranger grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"Why did you want to leave?" he asked me.

This totally caught me off guard. "I… I didn't. It's just that, I didn't want you to get sick of me… everything is going so well. I thought I'd just, you know, let you have your place back to yourself before you got sick of us."

Ranger gave a small nod and his jaw briefly clenched. "There are still a couple more bags in the car." He turned and walked out of my apartment.

"Rex, I don't think Ranger wanted us to leave."

Rex didn't move, but his eyes screamed, _'__No__ shit, __Sherlock!__'_

I walked over to the bag of clothes Ranger set on the counter and peeked inside. The fragrance of the detergent Ella used lingered in the clothing and immediately made me miss Ranger's closet. And his bedroom, bathroom, living room, and even the gym. God, I missed the gym? The gym was the bane of my existence!

'_No,__ you__ don__'__t__ miss__ the __gym.__ You__ miss__ Ranger_,' Rex said again with his eyes. Who knew Rex and Ranger shared the same Stephanie-ESP?

Rex was right. I've been waking up in Ranger's arms every morning for almost three months. I knew I was in trouble about a week ago when he worked late and I couldn't fall asleep without him. I blamed it on it being the dead of winter and a draft kept me awake – instead of admitting I was dependent on his warm body next to mine.

I absently twisted my sapphire and diamond charm on the necklace Ranger gave me and waited for him to come back upstairs with the other bags. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to him, but maybe the truth would be the best place to start.

But, what if I read the signs wrong and he didn't want me to come back with him?

I heard my front door open and watched as Ranger moved into the kitchen doorway, sans bags. He had his blank face in place and walked to Rex's tank, lifting it up.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to RangeMan. Rex and I talked last night and he likes it there. You can come if you want." He turned and walked out of the apartment.

I lifted my purse and the bag of clothes he had carried in earlier and keyed the code into the security system that locked the doors. Then I took off after my guys.

I took the stairs down to the lobby and found Rex and Ranger sitting in the old, worn out armchairs, watching me. I slowly walked over to them and placed my purse and clothes next to Rex's chair, and angled myself down on Ranger's lap. "Can I come, too?"

Ranger grinned again, this time it reached his eyes. "I didn't want you to leave in the first place."

"Neither did I."

"Babe, I'm not going to get sick of you. I waited too long for just this," he said, motioning to the two of us.

I smiled and rested my forehead against his. "I just realized this was the first time you called me 'Babe' in the last couple of days."

He gave a silent chuckle. "Rex wasn't the only one who was sad."

I kissed him softly, which quickly turned into something more serious.

As we pulled apart he tucked a curl behind my ear. "Let's go home."

I felt a shiver of excitement and a feeling that the mother of all butterflies was flying around in my stomach. "Let's go home."

We stood up and Ranger carried Rex's cage under his arm, putting his other one around my shoulders as I carried my purse and clothes.

"Does this mean Rex now has a daddy?" I asked him.

He gave a booming laugh and kissed my forehead. "Babe."

.

~~~~~Two Months Later~~~~~

.

"Again," Jenny commanded from my left side. I stood in front of the life-sized male dummy that was suspended from the ceiling so it looked like he stood on the floor. I cocked my fist, zeroed in on the side of his neck right under his ear and punched.

Jenny smiled. "Great, if you want we can unhook him from the suspension cord and chain him to a chair now."

"Why would we do that?" I asked her. "He's not alive."

Jenny pulled back her long brown hair. Since the end of the McAllister situation she was able to get her looks back to where she felt more comfortable. She lost the blonde color, the contacts, the boobs, and the wardrobe. She now had brown hair, brown eyes that were surrounded by tortoise shell framed glasses, a respectable 36B cup size, and a wardrobe of sleek FBI pantsuits, jeans and t-shirts. She also gained a new ring on her left hand and transferred to the FBI office in Trenton.

We were in the RangeMan gym, finishing up our workout. Once a week, Jenny would take the morning off and come to RangeMan to teach me some Krav Maga moves, mainly the one she used on Ed McAllister in his bomb shelter. The only problem was that no one wanted to be my neck punch-ee, so Ranger bought the pretend man from a MMA website for us to beat up. The rest of my workouts during the week were spent with Ranger or Hal (who was just fine after being chased with Ranger's stun gun five months ago. I didn't tag him, but the look in his eyes made it all worthwhile. It was now Connie's job to make him nervous). Since agreeing to this, I've learned to run a mile in about five minutes, sprint when needed and lift more than fifteen pounds without complaining. I've gone through the RangeMan workout program gaining muscle and, strangely enough, confidence.

And Ranger kept his promise of rubbing me every night. I felt good and I felt tough.

As Jenny and I were toweling off, Ranger entered the gym. He took the dummy off of its hook and put him into a small closet. "How'd it go?" he asked us.

"She's punching necks and taking names," Jenny told him. She fixed her wedding band on her finger and pulled her gym bag onto her shoulder. "See you guys later!"

Ranger nodded and I gave her a finger wave. "Say hello to Anthony for us."

"I will," she said, looking back as she walked through the doorway, "pinky swear."

Ranger looked at me and I knew what was next. "Don't ask," I told him.

"Don't ask what?"

"You're going to ask me to show you what I learned. Then you're going to somehow counter it and I'll fall on my ass. Then you'll get that triumphant little grin on your face."

The triumphant little grin started forming already.

I sighed, looked toward the ground and balled my fist. I came at his neck and he caught my fist with his hand. In a quick move he swung his foot out and tried to trip me, but by now I knew that when he slightly shifted his body and lifted his hip from the side he'd stick his leg out and try to bring me down. I jumped over his leg and tried another upper body move Jenny taught me which was supposed to knock the wind out of an assailant. He caught my shoulder and turned me around so that my back was to his front.

"Nice try, Babe." Then he grabbed my side and pulled me down to the mat when I yelped from the tickle his hand caused.

I looked up at him and swung my leg. It got him on the ankle and he came down next to me. "I wasn't finished," I told him, grinning that I was able to get him down.

Ranger and I had been practicing slight hand-to-hand combat together, but it was never like how he would spar with the men. For that, I was thankful. It was like they morphed into wild animals when they sparred. If I were to morph into a wild animal when I sparred, I would turn into a penguin.

"One day I'll have you," I told him.

He smiled.

"You know what I meant!"

We left the gym and made our way to the seventh floor. Our apartment. Things with Ranger were going exceptionally well, and as cheesy as it sounded, I was happy. I think Ranger was happy, too. Occasionally one of the guys would make a comment about Ranger smiling more. I also noticed that and was happy to be the one who caused it.

I kissed Ranger when we came into the apartment and made my way to the shower, while he went back down to work.

Technically, I still had my crappy little apartment, except I didn't live there anymore – Lula did. When she learned that I was moving out, she immediately begged me to keep my name on it and let her sublet from me. It was safer than her old apartment, especially with the RangeMan security system, and really, what else was I going to do with it?

Occasionally, Lula, Connie and I will go out on Saturday nights, usually ending up back at the apartment, like we did five months ago when Lula first broke her leg. The Sunday mornings after our girls' night go down pretty much the same as they did five months ago as well – waking up to Ranger, Tank, and now Hal with coffees and shit-eating grins.

The last time I went to visit Lula I noticed a cat carrier, cat food and a little litter box in the kitchen. Lula and Suzy, Tank's cat, apparently also have sleepovers. And judging by the new, extra-long bed in my old bedroom, Lula and Tank still have sleepovers as well.

After my shower and breakfast I met Ranger down on the fifth floor. We went over our plans for the day: I would be working for RangeMan in the morning doing computer work, then go to lunch with Valerie and come back to work with Hector learning something electronics related. Ranger would be working in his office in the morning then go to client meetings in the afternoon. We'd have dinner together and relax for the evening.

After four hours doing computer searches for RangeMan, it was almost time for my lunch with Valerie. I needed to change my clothes and looked up to see if Ranger was around, but found the office practically empty. The door to the large conference room was closed and I heard a meeting taking place. I asked Binkie to tell Ranger that I went upstairs if he asked.

As I pressed the elevator up, my cell phone started ringing. It was Valerie.

"I'm downstairs in the lobby," she said.

"Okay, I'll meet you down there and you can come up to the apartment while I change."

I took the elevator down to the lobby and fobbed us up to the seventh floor where I quickly changed while Valerie looked around Ranger's apartment getting decorating tips. Albert won the high profile case he was working on a while back and was able to put a down payment on a large house in the 'Burg. They moved in right around Christmas. While having two small children has slowed the decorating process down, the two rooms Valerie worked on in her house were very Ranger-esque. She modeled Albert's office to look just like the one Ranger has in this apartment and she made an exercise room in her basement that looked like a mini version of the gym downstairs.

"You ready?" I asked Valerie.

"I think so," she said, touching the sleek black dish Ranger and I used to throw our keys in when we came into the apartment, probably making a mental note to buy something similar. "Do I look alright?"

I stood back and gave her the once-over. She looked happy and serene again. She lost the Meg Ryan look and dyed her hair back to brown with red highlights, which she wore curly and at her shoulders. She wore a simple black dress with a red sash around her waist. "You look great, Val. Very self-assured."

Since starting the workouts five months earlier, Valerie lost fifty-seven pounds, gaining her old confidence back, and a brand new soccer-mom-meets-sexy wardrobe.

"Do you think we could stop downstairs and see Tank and Hal?" she asked me. "I kind of miss my buddies."

Why not? I was proud of her hard work and kind of wanted to show her off. "We can see if they're out of the meeting, if they're not, we'll stick our heads in and say goodbye. You'd be able to wave to them quickly."

Valerie gave a little squeal as we waited for the elevator.

We got off the elevator on the fifth floor and saw that the floor was still deserted. Binkie looked back at me from his chair at the monitors and pointed to the conference room. I noticed he took a little time to check out Valerie, who stood next to me. She must've noticed too because her smile grew wider and she stood up just a little taller. She was ready.

I knocked on the conference room door.

"Enter," Ranger said on the other side.

I pulled Valerie next to me and opened the door. "We're heading out," I told him.

Valerie waved to Tank and Hal who sat toward the front of the table. Their eyes grew wide with recognition and then huge smiles broke out on their faces. The other men at the table were also looking at Valerie. A couple of them said hello to her.

"Stephanie, who's your friend?" Lester asked.

"You remember my sister, Valerie."

Valerie waved to them and they all said hello back in various degrees of enthusiasm.

"Babe, get her out of here," Ranger said into my ear. "I need them to focus." He handed me the keys to his 911 Turbo and gave me a quick kiss.

Valerie and I waved goodbye and left for lunch.

"I don't think I've seen that many hot guys in the same room before," Valerie said on the elevator.

"From the looks on their faces, I think they were happy to see you, too."

.

Later that night, I had an epiphany while brushing my teeth. "I squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube," I told Ranger as I walked into the bedroom.

He glanced at me over a file he was reading. "I know."

"And every day, you go back and roll it from the bottom to get the toothpaste out."

Ranger nodded. "And?"

"Why don't you ever tell me to stop squeezing the toothpaste out like that?"

Ranger looked at me with a bemused expression. "Why would I?"

I shrugged, but I knew the answer: because he was wonderful. He never sweated the small stuff and was still accepting of the mess that is Stephanie Plum.

And I was deeply in love with Carlos Mañoso.

**The End**

_A/N: Thank you everyone for sticking with Getting Physical With RangeMan until the very end. It is with a heavy, yet happy heart that I mark this story complete._


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